Everything is Relative
by lifeofla-silverwolf
Summary: SEE SEQUEL Mystique's gone. Magneto's nowhere. The Brotherhood are left alone, but manage to survive. Then something goes wrong... Much Brotherhood angst, especially Lance. Takes place after 'Joyride', but before 'On Angel's Wings'.
1. Chapter 1 Another Morning, Another Day

**Chapter 1. Another Morning, Another Day.**

"Toad!"

Lance groaned as a shout penetrated his room through the closed door. He rolled over, grabbing his pillow and covering his head. He had already lost a lot of sleep- most of it actually, due to an insane headache that had tormented him all night.

Now insane people were depriving him of his rest.

When explosions began to accent the yells and crashes, Lance groaned and sat up, knowing from experience what would happen next. Just as he ran a hand through his hair in an effort to keep calm, his door burst open and Todd dashed in.

Lance mentally cursed the broken lock that allowed this to happen every morning.

Todd ducked behind Lance, still in his sleepwear –an old beige long—sleeved sweatshirt and matching sweatpants with rips in the knees.

In ran Pietro, followed by Tabitha. If he hadn't been so tired and annoyed, Lance might have grinned at the silver-haired boy's neatly buttoned light blue pajama shirt and matching pants, almost free of creases. Even Tabitha's sleepwear wasn't as clean and spotless, consisting of a loose short-sleeved shirt and pajama pants combination.

"Lance, man, they're trying to kill me!"

Pietro and Tabitha glared at Todd. "He-slimed-my-favorite-sweater!" Pietro shouted, and tried to get around Lance and at Todd. He missed by a few centimeters as Todd hopped out of the way.

"AND the bathroom! I can't take a shower with slime all over the place!" Tabitha added, small orange bombs forming in her hands.

Lance groaned. "I don't have the patience to deal with this today! Out! Todd, clean up your slime; Pietro, wear something else; Tabitha, get rid of those bombs!"

Quieted by Lance's outburst, the younger three teenagers stared at Lance.

"I mean it. Now!"

Grumbling, the trio begrudgingly walked out of the room.

"What's up with Lancey."

"Probably another headache or something. Toad, you owe me a new sweater!"

"I'm gonna go wake Freddy up."

Lance groaned and closed the door, slamming it slightly. Everyday was hectic in the Brotherhood house, but Mondays were particularly noisy. He changed, grabbing his usual garb of torn jeans and a black short-sleeved shirt to substitute the plain white T-shirt and black pants he had on as pajamas. He heard another explosion and putting on his gloves, walked out. There he saw a now fully dressed Pietro and Tabitha arguing over the bathroom. Ignoring the familiar scene, Lance made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen.

"Morning," a cheerful Fred greeted amidst a pile of food on the dining table.

"Yeah," Lance replied automatically, walking over to the cupboard and rummaging around for something edible. He found a relatively safe-to-eat box of cereals and dropped in a chair, a bowl and the cereal in hand.

"Rough night?" Fred asked, taking a bite from a huge day-old pastry. He handed Lance the milk.

"Rough morning."

Todd joined the two, hopping in. "Tabby's gotta start aiming," he said, pointing meaningfully to his hair, which was messier than usual and stuck out in all directions. He grabbed a doughnut with his tongue and chewed as he looked over at Lance. "You were a real help this morning," he complained.

"Mmph."

At Lance's lack of response, Todd looked over at Fred, who motioned to his head.

The momentary silence was shattered as the rest of the Brotherhood entered.

"You took my CD player!"

"I-did-not!"

"'Tro, you have it on," Fred pointed out.

There was a slight swish in the air, and Pietro opened out his hands- now empty. "No I don't," he smirked.

"You just put it back!" Tabitha was about to throw another cherry bomb at her silver-haired housemate but stopped when Todd nudged her.

Lance had gotten up, and merely putting his bowl next to the pile of dishes by the sink, he left the room.

Todd looked at his friends. "It's worse than usual today, isn't it?"

"You guys are too loud," Fred commented, pausing from his immersion in breakfast.

"Well it's not my fault- Pietro took my CD player," Tabitha argued as she grabbed a chair.

"Frog-boy started with his slime," Pietro grumbled, shifting the blame. He was already seated.

"That was totally just, you pulled my chair from under me the other night."

"You gotta admit, that was pretty funny," Fred said as he tossed an energy bar in his mouth.

"It hurt! Besides, Tabby broke the TV yesterday!"

"Hey, that was only because Quickie had to do his tornado thing and made my bombs go the wrong way!"

"Well-I-wasn't-going-to-be-hit!" Pietro snapped.

Another argument broke loose, and even from upstairs Lance could hear it. It did nothing to help his headache, which seemed to have decided to stick through the day. He grabbed a bottle of aspirin from the single drawer in his room and threw a few in his mouth, swallowing them dry from years of experience.

"It's amazing this house is still standing," he murmured.


	2. Chapter 2 Brotherhood Worried

**Chapter 2. Brotherhood Worried.**

"Would you just get out here already!" Lance shouted from the driver's seat of his beat-up jeep.

"I don't get it, yo. How is it that the fastest guy around is always the last to get ready?" Todd shook his head, then looked over to the big teenager sitting next to him.

Fred shrugged and Tabitha provided the answer from the passenger's seat.

"He takes too much time gazing at himself in front of the mirror," she said, leaning back with her arms propped up behind her head.

"You spend just as much time," Pietro said, opening the car door and getting in."

"Nah, Tabby still hasn't broken your record," Fred said as the car started.

"Though she did come close."

"No she didn't," Pietro cut off Fred and Todd's discussion.

"Why are you arguing, it's not like it's a good thing."

"It's still MY record."

"That's dumb."

"No-it-isn't."

As Todd, Pietro, and Fred started yet another heated argument, Lance let out a silent sigh, gripping the steering wheel a little harder.

Tabitha, who had stayed out of this conversation, turned to him. "What's the matter Rocky? You haven't complained in the last five minutes," she had a grin on her face but behind her sunglasses, her eyes betrayed her concern.

"Just another headache."

"You-really-need-to-do-something-about-that."

The talk in the backseat had ceased; Lance hadn't even noticed the unnatural silence.

"'Tro's right, you're having way too many lately."

"It's nothing," Lance didn't look at the youngest Brotherhood member, though it might just have been because he was driving. But he did know the three boys were peering at him closely, and he gave a brief glance at the rearview mirror to check their reactions.

"But your aspirins disappear as fast as food does with me."

"Freddy's right. I know you bought another bottle yesterday," Tabitha said, confirming Fred's statement as the car pulled up into the parking lot and took a vacant spot.

"Look, I can handle this all right?"

"You obviously can't," Pietro looked at Lance accusingly but the hints of worry in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

"I'm fine, it's not like I've never had these before. It'll pass; they all do," Lance got out of the car. "Come on, we'll be late for class," His voice told them to drop the subject.

"And we can't have that can we," Pietro muttered sarcastically but got out as well, followed by the rest.

As they made their way inside the school building, the four Brotherhood members gave occasional (and suppressed) glances toward each other and Lance, but kept silent.

"See you at lunch," Lance said and with a light wave, left for class.

"What do you think? He seemed okay," Fred asked as soon as their friend was out of hearing range.

"Yeah... Lance said he's fine, maybe we should just listen to him?" Todd looked at the other two of the worried quartet for confirmation.

"You're right; and like he said, it's not like this is new," Pietro said after a brief pause.

"Whoa, Speedy. You realize what you just said? You just admitted Toddy was right," Tabitha grinned.

"I-did-not!"

"I heard it man! Aw, 'Tro!" Todd joined in on the grinning.

"Oh-shut-up."


	3. Chapter 3 Cafeteria Conversations

**Chapter 3. Cafeteria Conversations.**

Lance could have cheered at the sound of the lunch bell. His head felt like it was splitting, no, more like there were a hundred avalanches in it. He quickly ducked into a bathroom and pulled out a bottle of aspirin and tossed four into his mouth. As he swallowed them, he happened to look at the mirror. He couldn't help but turn away.

They were right to be worried; he even looked terrible- the dark shadows under his eyes, clashing with his now pale skin. He ran a hand through his hair, brushing off the stray droplets of sweat before stepping outside.

He headed for the cafeteria but turned sharply when a hand touched his shoulder from behind.

"Alvers, we need to talk."

Lance twisted away from Scott's touch and scowled at him. "What do you want, Summers."

"You know what I'm talking about," Scott glared back, his hand reaching for his sunglasses.

"No, I'm not the psychic, if you don't remember. Now go save the world or something, I don't have time for this."

"Ve don't vant you hurting Kitty," Kurt spoke up, and Lance noticed for the first time that Kurt and Evan were standing behind Scott.

"Look, do your little thing later, I'm not dealing with you right now," Lance snapped, turning to leave.

"We're not finished talking..." Scott started, but was cut off when Lance turned back sharply, and the ground shook in accord with his anger. The lockers shuddered violently as Lance glared at the three X-Men.

"Back. Off." he snarled and left, his exit calming the ground beneath them to a low rumble until it stopped.

"Vell, do you zink ve should go after him?" A slightly shaken Kurt murmured after a long moment.

Scott stared at the way Lance had left. His eyes narrowed. "No, we can't risk powers. But we'll keep a close eye on him."

"Man, we could totally take him, forget powers." Evan said, and his words fully drew the three out of the daze.

"Yeah but zen zeProfessor vould get angry vith us."

Kurt and Evan started off, heading for the cafeteria as well.

Scott paused in thought. Lance seemed different than usual, even the way the earth shook had felt different today. He shook his head. The earthquake was the same as always; Lance's response was the same as always. Lance was Lance after all.

* * *

At the cafeteria Lance grabbed a dish and took the nearest article of 'food' on the counter and went to the table where the Brotherhood hung out. It was at one end of the cafeteria, and mostly secluded because the other students avoided the tables nearby. Which suit the Brotherhood just fine.

Only Todd was there, snagging a fly out of the air casually.

"Hey Todd," Lance sat down, his back towards the rest of the cafeteria. "What's up."

"Tabby and Fred got another detention, can you believe that?" Todd said, turning back to the table and his regular lunch.

"While you, Pietro and I are detention-free you mean," Lance smirked.

"No, but you only got thrown in because you beat up one of Matthews's jerks and that was because they were bullying me. And at least 'Tro got caught a day late and had some fun out of his."

"Yeah but you gotta admit, pink really doesn't work with Kelly, even if it is only his car."

"It's not like the whole thing's pink," Fred put in as he sat down, food piled on his several plates.

"Polka-dots are so cliché though," Tabitha said, announcing her arrival.

"Well you and Freddy only got as far as Matthews's locker today, you-can't-complain," Pietro replied, the last to join.

"Where have you been," Todd looked at the speed demon.

"Just giving Kelly another little surprise," Pietro said cheerfully.

"As funny as this is, we should keep a low profile for a while," Lance cut in, drawing the attention on him.

"Why?"

"'Cause if I miss another day of work from detention I'm going to get fired again."

"So you stay low. We'll do your share for you, don't worry."

Lance frowned at Pietro. "You know Kelly's going to make all of us have detention. He knows we're a group, and he'll take any excuse to put us in trouble."

"All right, so we'll keep quiet for a while, k Lancey?" Tabitha spoke up, before Pietro could argue that Lance just skip, surprising Lance himself.

"Yeah we'll stay out of trouble for a day or two." Fred agreed.

"Or just not get caught," Pietro said hopefully.

"Pietro..."

"All right, I'll cut down. And I already had all my plans." Pietro sighed and put a hand to his head in mock drama. "O cruel fate, must you mock me?"

"Here he goes again," Tabitha rolled her eyes.

"No one understands a genius," Pietro went on.

"More like no one understands the insane hyper speed demon," Todd laughed.

Pietro smacked him on the head, but they were all just joking and they knew it. Insults were a regular form of Brotherhood communication.

"There's Kitty, I have to go." Lance said, spotting Kitty across the room and getting up.

The rest of the Brotherhood turned to each other, each with different expressions but all knowing what the other was thinking.

"Me-too-catch-you-later," Pietro said, and was gone.

"Um yeah Fred, don't we have something we gotta do?" Todd gulped and looked at the bigger boy.

"What?"

"You know, that thing..." Todd nodded over to Lance, who was only a few steps away from Kitty. Fred caught on, and the two exchanged meaningful looks. Fred nodded vigorously. "Right, see you later Tabby."

"You guys are bailing out on me? It's not going to be that bad, just stay and watch!" Tabitha suggested as the two boys left quickly, still finishing up the rest of her hamburger.

Then Lance's shocked "**What!**" could be heard.

"Well I'm full," Tabitha tossed the last bit of her lunch in the trash and followed the examples of her co-conspirators.

* * *

Lance smiled as he caught up with Kitty.

"Hey Kitty..." before he could even finish his greeting, Kitty shot Lance a death glare.

"I can't believe you have the nerve to talk to me after what you did!"

Lace swallowed hard. How had Kitty found out about the fight? Jean probably told her, the red head was always hanging around with Matthews. Or maybe she had heard about Pietro's trick? Anyone could link the Brotherhood to each other, so it was possible she thought him responsible for any of the others' pranks. Trouble followed the name of the Brotherhood, they were used to getting in the middle of it and even blames for things they did not do.

"Wait Kitty, that was totally defensive, I swear! Matthews's guy hit Todd first; he started the whole thing! And I didn't do any of the other things! I didn't even know about most of them!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not talking to you!" Kitty walked off, her blue eyes angry fires.

"Huh?"

She didn't know about the fight. Or the pranks. Lance quickly pulled himself out of the temporary confusion and ran in front of Kitty.

"Kitty, at least tell me what I did wrong!"

"Like you don't know!" Kitty snapped as she roughly pushed past him. Lance grabbed her wrist, hurriedly but lightly.

"I really don't! What did I do?"

Kitty jerked out of his hand. "Lance Alvers, if you think standing me up was funny, you can just forget about any future dates! In fact, you can just forget about even being my lab partner, I'll ask Jake to help me!"

"**What!**" Lance was so shocked he couldn't even stop Kitty as she stomped away. Then the answer dawned on him.

"I'M GOING TO KILL THEM!" he ran out the cafeteria.


	4. Chapter 4 Dissension & Discord

**Chapter 4. Dissension & Discord.**

"You think he'll be mad?" Fred asked after drinking a can of Coke, courtesy of Tabitha.

"Please. We did him a favor, getting rid of that X-Geek."

Pietro replied, taking a sip of his own Sprite as Fred picked up another can from the numerous scattered around the floor around them.

"Then why'd you run away, yo?" Todd asked, holding a lime soda.

"I-didn't-run-away! I was talking to someone."

"Who then?" Tabitha said as she tossed her empty orange soda can in the garbage.

"Elizabeth."

"You don't know anyone named Elizabeth." Fred threw away his fourth can.

"Yes-I-do! It's-not-my-fault-if-you-slowpokes-can't-keep-up-with-my-long- elite-and-impressive-list-of-social-aquaintences." Pietro said, finishing up his drink as well.

"Well someone had too much caffeine," Tabitha laughed as she left. "I'm outta here, see you later."

"And-someone-still-owes-me-fifteen-dollars!" Pietro yelled back indignantly, but Tabitha was already gone.

"And someone is going to be in a lot of pain if you don't start talking and tell me what you did!"

The boys turned as they heard an all too familiar voice.

"Uh, what's up Lance," Fred grinned nervously.

"You look thirsty, want a soda?" Todd offered timorously.

"What's up is that Kitty thinks I stood her up!" Lance shouted.

"You-finally-ditched-the-X-Geek? Good-for-you!" Pietro said, and hoping that'd leave him an opening, he sprinted past Lance but was tripped. Lance grabbed Pietro by the shirt.

"What. Did. You. Do." he growled.

"Well Pietro, looks like you've got things covered here; we're just going to let you two talk," Todd said carefully.

"Don't even think about it." Lance didn't turn, his dark brown eyes glaring at Pietro.

"Lance-we-only-helped-you!"

"Helped me how? By getting Kitty to never talk to me? Thanks a lot!"

"We really were trying to do the right thing..." Fred mumbled.

"Do you know how mad Kitty is at me? She was already upset about me canceling the last three dates because of detention and work! Not to mention our relations with the X-Men!"

"Aw man, we didn't know that. Come on, don't be mad Lance. She'll be okay in a few days."

"If you guys keep messing up our dates, what little chance of me getting her to like mewill be completelydestroyed! Kitty's never going to trust me!"

"Well technically we're not the only ones mes..." Fred started, but clamped his mouth shut when he saw Lance's glare.

Pietro, who had gotten out of Lance's grip during the dialogue, couldn't take it anymore. He stared Lance hard in the eyes, making sure his speech was understandable.

"Can't you see! We're right! She's not right for you! We're trying to help you! It'll never work out!"

Lance's eyes widened for a split second, the shock visible in his eyes- and hidden deeper, covered up by the anger: hurt. He glared at Pietro.

"SHUT UP! Just shut up!"

The ground shook violently, matching Lance's emotions as he turned and stalked off.

Pietro stared. He had expected Lance to shout back and argue. Maybe even to punch him. Instead, he had just left. And with such a... hurt expression. Like he had been betrayed.

"Maybe we should just have told Kitty he couldn't make it like he asked us to," Fred murmured.


	5. Chapter 5 Everything will be all right

**Chapter 5. Everything will be all right.**

Lance trudged down the hall. Now he was less angry than was depressed.

And his headache insisted on getting worse.

He took a moment to ponder the matter. It was true, the headaches had been uncontrollably strong lately, and even the medication hadn't beenworking. So he had refrained from using his powers for the past couple of months. Except for the occasional anger shakes, things had been earthquake-free. But the headaches had persisted; even withouter.

"Great, another cut. Kelly's going to give me detention again..." Lance muttered. The only reason he actually went to detention and school at all was because two of his bosses had demanded that he stay in school or he'd be fired. Work was hard enough to come by and harder to keep; Lance didn't want to lose two. He'd rather endure an hour or two of detention instead.

The doors of the classrooms opened and students began pouring out, so Lance broke out of his thoughts and headed for his next class- Chemistry. He took his usual seat in the back and his heart jumped in hope when Kitty took her normal seat across from him. Then immediately dropped when Kitty gave him a cold glare.  
The doors of the classrooms opened and students began pouring out, so Lance broke out of his thoughts and headed for his next class- Chemistry. He took his usual seat in the back and his heart jumped in hope when Kitty took her normal seat across from him. Then immediately dropped when Kitty gave him a cold glare.

"Kitty I-"

Lance sighed as Kitty turned away from him.

"Kitty, come on Kitty, it wasn't my fault. I didn't even know about it, much less plan it. I'd never do that to you!" Lance said, his voice low because the teacher had started talking. He couldn't afford another detention that day, and Kitty would definitely be unhappy if he got her in trouble for talking.

"Kitty would you at least listen to me for a minute? I asked the guys to tell you I couldn't make it; I had to work late."

Well, that was partially true- he had gotten a bad headache and left work early, but called and told Pietro that he'd be working late. He had also asked Pietro to tell Kitty he couldn't make it to their date. Obviously, Pietro had told the others and they had decided not to.

Kitty's expression softened at his words, and she turned to look at him. Her face grew more concerned when she saw how pale he was- sickly pale.

"I'm still mad at you, but I understand. Kurt like, tried to hide my dress and Scott was planning to put a homing device on your jeep. They are, like, totally immature. But you owe me, I waited three hours for you."

"Three hours? You waited that long for me?" Lance grinned.

Kitty just smiled in response.


	6. Chapter 6 Forgive & Forget

**Chapter 6. Forgive & Forget.**

Kitty grinned widely as she ran up to Rogue. School was finally over, now she could tell her what was happening.  
"Hey Rogue."

Rogue looked at Kitty, raising an eyebrow in surprise.  
"Yer one happy person," she commented.

"Lance is taking me out for dinner on Friday."

"Lance? Ah dont believe this. Yah do remember he stood yah up yesterday?"

"That wasnt his fault, it was Pietro and the others again."

Before Rogue could respond, Jean walked up.

"Kitty when are you going to learn that hanging around with those hoods isnt going to do anything good for you?" she said, having seen the elated expression Kittys face and guessed she had forgiven Lance.

"Youre one to say, hanging around with Duncan," Kitty retorted, her expression changing. With that, she turned and walked off, leaving a stupefied Jean and slightly chuckling Rogue.

"Shes got yah there," Rogue shurgged as she headed home.

* * *

Lance shoved his books in his locker and glared when he felt an all too familiar swish of air and Pietros presence behind him.

"Pietro, Im not in the mood," he snarled, turning. He saw Todd, Fred, and Tabitha walking up behind them. He had ignored them all throughout detention, nothing had been able to make him look at them for more than a second, and that was to glare. They had given up after the first hour and had whispered to each other for the remaining hour of detention.

"Leave me alone."

"Lance, just listen to what we have to say," Pietro started, but Lance cut him off by shoving him out of the way and striding off.

"Lance-were-sorry!" Pietro shouted, a hint of desperation in his voice. Lance paused. He stood still for a moment, then sighed and turned.

A relieved look passed the faces of the four teenagers looking at him.

"Forgive and forget?" Todd approached him, a little timidly.

Lance sighed again. "Look, I know you guys are just trying to look out for me, but Kitty isnt bad. Cant you get that through your heads?" he said, dejected.

"We know shes not bad. Not as bad as the rest of those X-Geeks anyhow," Fred nodded.

"Shes just not right for you," Tabitha put in.

"I know, Im not..."

"...shes not good enough for you," Tabitha continued.

Lance stared at the only girl in the Brotherhood. He shook his head. "More like Im not good enough for her."

"Thats exactly what were talking about!" Pietro poked Lance in the chest with a finger, staring at him in the eyes. "Shes not good enough for you if she makes you feel that way. Get it, slowpoke?"

Lance was stunned. He hadnt realized exactly what the rest of the Brotherhood had felt on the subject of Kitty and himself. He had always assumed their dislike sprouted from Mystique and Magnetos reactions; he had never thought they had different reasons.

"Were not blind you know," Fred pulled him out of his thoughts. "We can see the way you look at her. We just dont want you getting hurt."

"Yeah, or getting all sappy over a girl," Todd added.

Lance smiled. "All right all right, I forgive you. Just dont do this kind of stuff. Now you losers get home, I gotta go to work and Im already late so I cant drop you off."

"Thats the Lance we know," Tabitha grinned. "And dont worry, well stay out of trouble tomorrow. For the most part anyhow."

"Yeah yeah, dont get caught."

"Oh so as long as we dont get caught we can cause trouble?" Pietro joked.

Lance grinned. "Nothing can keep you out of trouble. So just be careful."


	7. Chapter 7 Going on a date

**Chapter 7. Going on a date.**

It had been one long week.

Every measure had been taken for him to not get detention or to successfully ditch it. He managed to be detention-free on Tuesday. Every effort had been made by the Brotherhood to stay quiet, and when that wore off by the end of second period, they had made every effort to keep Lance out of their troubles.

They even avoided all sorts of quarrels with the X-Men, and Pietros tricks on Evan had significantly decreased. And after keeping Tuesday free of detentions, Lance had worked double-time, making it so he could leave Friday open. His other job let him off two days each week, so that had been easy; he gave up Saturday in favor of Friday.

He had gotten detention on Wednesday, but had snuck out during the middle of it to go to work. Unfortunately this had been discovered and he had gotten double detention on Thursday. He got to work late and had to work overtime to get his boss to let him off Friday, as well as promising to come out during the weekend.

And so on.

But it had been worth it. He had just one job to go to on Friday, and he would be free for the rest of the evening.

And now it was finally Friday, and Lance had it all planned out. He hadnt had much money, just enough for a cheap dinner, but the others had pitched in so he and Kitty could see a movie. They were still feeling guilty about the previous week, and even made efforts to stop teasing him, though it didnt yield the best results.

"So Ill pick you up at seven," Lance grinned.

Kitty nodded. "Dont be late," she smiled.

"Never," Lance waved as she got in the car of a very annoyed Scott. He heard the complaining and lecturing of the X-Men in the car even from his place, but he could tell Kitty was okay with it. He had avoided fights with the X-Men all week, though Summers and some of the others had come up to him more than once, demanding that he leave Kitty alone.

"Come on Lover-boy, youve got to get to work before youre late again," Tabithas voice alerted him.

"Promise me you guys will not do anything, at least for this date," Lance said to the four teens as he got in the jeep.

"We promise already. Again," Pietro replied, aggravated.

"Yeah we wont bother you this time, dont worry so much," Todd said as the car started.

"All right, I cant help it. Thanks again for the money guys."

Lance dropped them off at the run down house that was their home, and headed for work. Once he was certain he was out of sight, he opened a bottle of aspirin and downed a couple pills for his throbbing headache.

Work was more or less uneventful, though he had had to take another set of pills, hiding in the bathroom, away from the vigilant eyes of his boss. It wouldnt be good for his bosses to find out he was taking medicine at work- they might make him go home, or worse, quit till he got better. And he needed the money. His various earnings all added up together barely covered the food and water bill, and it was already fall. To lose even one pay would have dire consequences in the upcoming winter- they had gone without heat a couple times before, and Todd plus a cold was not a pleasant sight. Lance was already trying to find extra jobs- though he had to be discreet about it, for if he were to let on that he was, everyone else would try as well, and then hed have talk them out of it so they could focus on school.

* * *

"Alvers, are you sleeping on my time?!"

His bosss voice snapped him back to the conscious world. He had fallen asleep; the headaches were making him infinitely tired. He had long since given up hope for an actual full nights sleep, catching short naps at school, work, and home whenever possible.

"No sir, I was awake," he quickly answered, sitting up straight and hoping his boss would not notice the line that had formed on his forehead from being pressed against his shirtsleeve. He mentally cursed himself for falling asleep on the job.

His boss looked at him hard for a moment, and Lance cringed, waiting for the tirade that would follow. His boss had threatened to fire him the next time he fell asleep at work, but Lance was desperately hoping he wouldnt carry out his threat.

"Go home, Alvers."

Lance blinked, staring at his boss. He swiftly stole a glance at the clock. Five. There was still an hour of work left. His eyes widened in panic.

"Wait sir, dont fire me, please, I wont sleep again; I really need this job-"

"Im not firing you, Lance. Im letting you go home early. Youre too tired to get any real work done. Go home and get some rest. Ill give you this hour for free."

Now Lance was just stunned, but he pushed away the suspicion rising in his mind and nodded, getting up from his seat.

"Yes sir, Ill be on time tomorrow," he said and started to walk out, but paused. "Sir?"

"What Lance?"

"Um, thank you."

Lance hastily left the building, running after he thought he was out of sight and hurriedly getting in his jeep. He wanted to leave before his boss had a change of heart and decided that it would be better to fire him after all. This was one of his better paying jobs, losing it would be drastic.

Back in the building, Lances boss watched the fleeting figure of the jeep and shook his head as he turned away from the window.


	8. Chapter 8 Hell Breaks Loose

**Chapter 8. Hell Breaks Loose.**

Lance struggled to keep his eyes on the road as he drove through the empty street. The Brotherhood house was a little over a half-hour away from work, and he wanted to get there early so he could wash up and put on something cleaner for the date with Kitty. But his headache had returned after his awakening, and the pounding pain was almost unbearable.

He finally pulled up at the next building, which happened to be a gas station. He got out of the car shakily and replied that he just wanted some candy bars at the station owners question as to how much gas he wanted. He headed for the bathroom, figuring the owner would now leave him alone, since he was buying something, and hed just give the candy to Todd or something.

The earth below him pulsed and quivered in tune with his steps, and after what seemed like ages he reached he bathroom door, opening it. He grasped the handle of the sink and turned on the water, panting. He cupped his hands to catch the falling water in his hands and splashed it against his face.

It didnt help.

He took out the bottle of aspirin from his pocket and tried to open it, but his trembling hands faltered and he dropped it. He let out an agonized groan as he leaned down to pick it up, but the ground shook against his wishes and he fell down, hitting the floor solidly.

The pain plagued him.

Lance saw the walls tripling and spinning around him, but didnt notice the earths vibrations getting stronger. He faintly heard someone banging on the door and shouting if he was all right, but he couldnt even open his eyes now, the pain was overwhelming.

He didnt hear the scream outside, nor the explosion from the gas tanks crashing into each other as the ground ripped into chasms and fissures all around.

He blacked out as the world around him shattered, the earth screaming in agony as he could not.


	9. Chapter 9 Ill Omens & Painful Discoverie...

**Chapter 9. Ill Omens & Painful Discoveries.**

Todd and Fred were definitely startled from their late breakfast when Pietro suddenly appeared from upstairs. They had just gotten up; it was ten, Saturday morning.

"Lance-isnt-here!"

Todd looked at him strangely. The words had been too quick, even for people who were used to it, to understand.

"Lance, isnt, here." Pietro said, resisting the urge to smack Todd for not understanding in such an extreme situation.

"Come on Pie, hes sleeping for once, just let him. Hes way too pale lately. He already said he didnt have work till twelve today. He still has a half hour to sleep in, even including the time it takes him to get to work," Tabitha said as she walked in the kitchen, yawning.

"No-hes-not-in-his-room-sleeping!" Pietro shouted, and then forced himself to slow down. "Hes not there, I just checked, I was going to wake him up and ask about his date with the X-Geek."

"He hasnt been down here," Todd said.

"And he wasnt in the bathroom," Tabitha added.

"Maybe he stayed out late?" Fred asked.

"With Kitty? I doubt the X-Geeks let her stay out after ten. In fact, thats her curfew, if I remember correctly," Tabitha snorted.

"Exactly! So-why-isnt-he-here?" Pietro questioned, keeping his words at a just barely understandable enough speed.

"Maybe he went to work early," Todd said.

"But he never misses Saturday breakfast without telling us..." Fred pointed out.

"Well we were sleeping, maybe he didnt want to wake us," Todd offered hopefully.

Alarm and concern was growing among the four Brotherhood members as they strained to figure out the whereabouts of their friend and leader.

"No, hed at least have left a note. This is Lance were talking about, not Speedy or me or you or Freddy," Tabitha said, her face clouding.

"EXACTLY! Where-the-hell-is-he?!"

"First off, calm down Pietro. Second, get dressed, were going out," Tabitha said.

Pietro calmed down just enough to satisfy his friend. "Ill go ahead and check his work, maybe he did go early and planned to call us or something. Someone stay here by the phone," he sped out, not even bothering to change out of his pajamas.

A minute later, he was back, his clothes muddy and dirtied.

"Hes-not-there," he declared. "I checked three times, and hes not there."

"All right Pietro, you check all of his other jobs; Todd and Fred, start calling his bosses. Im going to check his room again to see if he left anything Tro missed," Tabitha said, and the three boys quickly went to their tasks. Tabitha got back, hands empty, just as Fred had finished his first phone call.

"Lances boss says he let Lance go early last night," Fred announced as Pietro ran back in.

"GUYS-I-THINK-I-FOUND-LANCE-THERES-THIS-HUGE-MESS-OUT-IN-ONE-OF-THE-GAS- STATIONS-ON-THE-WAY-TO-LANCES-JOB-IT-LOOKS-LIKE-THERE-WERE-EARTHQUAKES-AND- EXPLOSIONS-AND-"

"Whoa Pietro. Slow down, we didnt understand a word of that," Todd said.

"Mass chaos and destruction by one of the ways to Lances work. I think its from Lances earthquakes," Pietro said, painfully slowly, not wanting to spend more time on explanations and get them to understand the first time.

"What!" Tabitha jumped.

"But Lance wouldnt do that, man. He hasnt used his powers in a while now, I think it hurts him a lot..." Todd stuttered.

"Which is why I think its an accident," Pietro said, and it was only then that the other three noticed how shaky his voice was.

"Like how Lances powers react to his anger..." Fred started, and then stopped. "But what would make him do that?" he murmured softly, asking the one question everyone was wondering.

"No time to discuss this, we have to go see if Lance is still there, come on!" Pietro said, and grabbed Tabitha and Todd by their arms and zoomed off to the disaster area. After getting them there, he sped back to the Brotherhood house, where Fred was.

"Pietro you cant do that with me..." Fred started, but Pietro wasnt listening. He grabbed his larger friend and using all his strength and all the force his powers gave him, he managed to get Fred to the scene as well, albeit a few feet away.

Fred stared in disbelief at his friend, then picked up the panting boy and walked over to where Tabitha and Todd had already started looking through the debris.

They were inside a giant crater that could have been a parking lot for a U.F.O.

"The police should hear about this soon, they probably dont know yet because its Saturday and this place is so deserted and far from the town. We have to hurry," Tabitha said.

Only then did she see Pietro and Fred. "Tro, how did you get Fred over? Are you all right?" she exclaimed, pausing her search in surprise.

"It was hard, give me a medal later," Pietro said between sharp gasps. "Find Lance," he managed through his rough breathing.

"Yo I found him!" Todd shouted from a few feet away. He had been so busy searching he had not even noticed Fred and Pietros arrival. Tabitha and Fred rushed over, Pietro still being carried by Fred.

They saw some black cloth and instantly recognized it to be Lances shirtsleeve. Quickly but carefully they dug through the debris around him, uncovering his shoulders and head. One side of his head has blood streaked on it, and his left sleeve looked like it had been soaked with blood, and then dried.

"Lance?" Todd lightly touched Lance on the right shoulder, where there was less blood.

"Hes out," Tabitha said, brushing off the rubble around his head. "We have to get him out," she turned to Fred.

Fred nodded and gently put Pietro down and heaved the large boulders around Lance up and threw them aside. Todd and Tabitha quickly took care of the smaller rocks and they had Lance out within minutes.

"He totally crashed the whole place around him," Todd said in disbelief. "He never uses this much power! I didnt even know he could do this much!"

Fred cautiously picked up Lances body out of the ruins. "Hes hurt. Bad," he said, his face alarmed.

"He needs a doctor, we cant heal this kind of thing. Its always Lance that heals us, not the other way around. We dont know what medicine to use or anything. And what if he has broken bones?" Todd spilled out.

Fred looked at Tabitha and Pietro, he didnt know how to answer Todd. The younger boy was right, but that meant they had to take Lance to a hospital.

"We cant take him to a hospital, theyll kill him when they find out hes a mutant," Tabitha said softly.

"We have to..." Pietro spoke up; his breathing was now relatively normal. He hesitated, stopping, but looked at their pale unconscious friend. "We have to take him to Xavier," he finished.

"The X-Geeks! You have to be joking Pie, theyd never help him!" Todd cried out.

"Yeah, theyd probably just celebrate," Fred nodded bitterly.

"Theyre not that bad... all right so they might be that bad. But lets face facts. Theyre the only chance weve got. We have to get Lance some help, we cant do this ourselves," Pietro said, distressed but determined.

Silence fell on the Brotherhood, and no one could meet anothers eyes. But the quiet did not last long; they heard sirens in the distance.

"Thats it, we have to get out of here. Pietro, can you make a run?" Tabitha asked, her voice and her look telling them her mind was made up.

Pietro nodded.

"You cant carry Lance, but you can go ahead and tell Xavier were coming," Tabitha said.

Pietro nodded. "Dont worry, Ill get him to help. And even if he doesnt, were going in whether he wants us there or not. Ill disable the security system if he kicks me out, so we can all get in," he said before running off.

"Come on, wed better hurry before the police get here," Tabitha said.

"Try to find Lances car, if its not busted we can take him in that," Fred suggested.

"Good idea," Tabitha and Todd quickly looked around and found the jeep. Unfortunately, it was totaled.

"Well thats that," Todd said, dejected.

"But wed better get rid of it, otherwise the police will trace it back to Lance," Tabitha murmured.

Fred nodded and gently put Lance on the ground before approaching the vehicle. He pulled it out of the rubble and after Tabitha had thrown a couple dozen bombs on it, he crumpled up the remains and a couple more bombs were thrown to make it look like debris.

"They probably heard that, we really have to get out of here now." Fred and Todd nodded to Tabithas words and Fred carefully picked Lance back up.

The three ran as fast as they could, Tabitha slightly ahead, followed by Fred carrying Lance and trying not to hurt him, and Todd hopping beside him, at times a little behind.

About fifteen minutes after they had started running, they had to pause for a break. The initial panic had worn off, along with it the adrenaline that had kept them going. They sat down on the side of the road, catching their breaths.

The three froze when they heard something roaring towards the up ahead. On the road was the X-Van, and they had to stare when it got closer. The driver was Pietro.

The vehicle screeched to a stop, nearly hitting them, and Pietro ran out.

"I-came-as-fast-as-I-could-the-stupid-X-Geeks-wouldnt-believe-me-about-the- accident-so-I-had-to-borrow-their-car."

"Pie, you dont know how to drive!" Todd shouted.

"Which-explains-the-crashes-I-nearly-got-into-and-the-shortcuts-I-took-but- I-learn-fast."

"Uh oh, X-Geek ahead," Fred nodded to the motorcycle coming up. He still had Lance in his arms; he hadnt wanted to put him down as they rested in fear that the continued action of moving him would hurt the older boy even more.

"All right youve got thirty seconds to explain yourself, kid," Logan growled, taking off his helmet. His claws flashed out as he approached the Brotherhood dangerously.

"No-time-to-talk-we-have-to-get-Lance-to-your-place-before-anything-worse- happens."

"What?" Logan paused, wondering what the speed demon had just said.

Tabitha and Todd got up, followed by Fred. "Well explain later," Tabitha supplied as she nodded for Fred to take Lance in the van.

"This time were not joking around," Todd added, looking at Logan, his fear of the older mutant momentarily forgotten. He turned to the van and opened the door for Fred and Lance, getting in himself.

Now Logan was just confused. Pietro had barged in to the mansion, evading all the security systems, and in what seemed to be his pajamas at that. Then he had rambled on about something, his words had been so quick no one could understand him. Even Charles had not been able to determine what the boy was saying, his thoughts were too mixed up and fast to tell. But he had definitely been panicked. When they simply stared at him after he finished talking, he had let out a groan of what had seemed like exasperation, and then run out. Seconds later they heard the X-Van leaving the garage, and Logan had quickly jumped on his bike after him, shouting back at the others to stay and not follow. Now he was standing in front of the Brotherhood, all in their sleepwear with the exception of a knocked out Lance in very dirty and bloody clothes.

Tabitha glanced briefly at Pietro. "Im driving this time, your drivings going to get us killed," she said, and Pietro didnt even bother to reply; he simply nodded and got in the van, closing the door after him.

Tabitha looked at Logan. "Were serious, Wolverine. Lance is hurt. We need to see Xavier," her eyes were pained, the worry visible in them as she waited for Logans answer.

Logan looked at her for a moment, briefly surprised he hadnt called him Badger and then there was the sound of his claws being retracted. "Lets go," he got on his bike and put on his helmet again, starting the engine.

Tabitha let out a relieved sigh and ran to the van, getting in the drivers seat.


	10. Chapter 10 Just trying to help a friend

**Chapter 10. Just trying to help a friend.**

The van made its way into the garage, and as soon as it stopped the doors opened. Todd stepped out, and was face-to-face with a crowd of angry X-Men. He gulped. "We're not looking for a fight today..."

"We'll explain later, move; we have to get to Xavier," Tabitha said harshly, eyeing the residents as she got out.

Logan arrived and looked around at the X-Men as he got off his bike. "Everyone inside!" he ordered. There was a brief moment of hesitation among the X-Men, until they heard Logan's claws coming out. They quickly ran inside.

"This way, I'll take you to Charles," Logan said, glancing at Tabitha and Todd.

"That's fine, I'm right here."

Charles wheeled into the garage as Pietro stepped out of the van, helping Fred out as they steadied Lance.

Only for a moment was Xavier deterred, surprised at seeing Lance lifeless in Fred's arms, and Pietro being supported by Tabitha.

"Lance is hurt," Fred stated.

"I see. Come this way, we'll have Hank take a look at him."

The Brotherhood looked around each other for a moment, then nodded and followed.

* * *

Hank McCoy was in for a surprise when he entered the infirmary, met by the members of the Brotherhood, most of which seemed to be nervous, some angry, and/or confused. All were worried.

"Hank, thank you for coming promptly..."

"Less-talk-more-action. For all we know Lance could be really hurt!" Pietro said, straining as he slowed down the words that wanted to spill out of his mouth.

"Listen kid, if you think you can..."

Xavier nodded, motioning for Logan to calm down. "It's all right Logan. They're just worried."

Logan nodded and stood back, but did not move his eyes from the Brotherhood.

"Put him down on the table," Hank said to Fred, who had been silent since they had gotten in the van. Fred nodded and carefully put his friend down.

"What exactly happened to him?" Hank asked as he washed his hands.

"We're not sure. We think he used his powers, but we don't know why or how," Tabitha replied.

Hank nodded. "We're going to have to take X-rays to see if he has any broken bones or anything of that sort. Has he been out long?"

"Ever since we found him," Tabitha said, her eyes on Lance, anxiety obvious.

"...He's all right, right? Lance never gets sick. Lance is the healthy one. He's just tired, right? He's not hurt, right?"

Hank sighed and looked at Pietro, who seemed to be having a hard time keeping himself in check. "I don't know. But I must ask you to leave..."

"No." Todd, Pietro and Tabitha interjected.

"We are not leaving Lance alone," Tabitha declared.

"No offense, but we don't trust you all too much," Todd said.

"I can't help Lance with all of you crowded around him," Hank said gently.

Fred tapped Todd, Pietro, and Tabitha on their shoulder. "He's right. We take up too much space," he spoke for the first time since they arrived.

Todd looked at him, distressed. "But we can't just leave him..."

"He's in good hands,Todd," Xavier said, his voice calming. "Logan and I will wait with you outside. You'll be able to see Lance as soon as Hank finishes."

The teens seemed a little less tense after that statement, but looked at each other.

"We should leave, the sooner he can look at Lance, the better," Tabitha said at last.

The boys nodded, and Fred headed out, putting a soft hand on Todd's shoulder as the fifteen-year-old joined him.

Pietro looked back at Lance, worried, but followed Tabitha out.

"They're quite shaken," Hank said to the other two adults in the room, once the teens were out of hearing range.

"Yes, it seems Lance has a greater impact on them than we thought," Xavier said. "But I still don't know why this happened."

"We'll ask Rocky after he wakes up," Logan said, disgruntled, not yet letting go of his suspicion on the Brotherhood. He walked out the room and Xavier nodded to Hank before leaving as well.

"I've told Ororo about this, she'll keep the students away from here until you're done."

Hank nodded. It wouldn't be any good to have the X-Men and Brotherhood start fighting now.


	11. Chapter 11 Knowing Your Friends

**Chapter 11. Knowing Your Friends.**

"Guys get this! Pietro stole the X-Van and came back with the rest of the Brotherhood and Logan! They said they had to see the Professor, but then Logan chased us out before we could hear anything good," Evan ran into the rec room where Kitty, Rogue, Ray, Roberto, Jubilee, and Bobby were.

Kitty and Rogue looked at Evan like he was crazy. Ray and Roberto stopped arguing, shocked at the news. Jubilee and Bobby stopped their videogame and stared.

"It's true," Sam confirmed as he walked in.

"It was totally weird," Amara commented.

"But really cool," Jamie added after Amara.

The new recruits looked at each other, and then flocked over to Sam, Amara, Jamie, and Evan to get the details.

"Whoa, seriously?"

"I can't believe this!"

"Awesome!"

Rogue groaned at the noise and walked out the room.

Kitty sat still, disbelief written all over her. She saw Jean walk in with Scott and looked at the older girl. "Is it true? Pietro stole the X-Van?"

"Yeah, he just ran in and started rambling about something, then ran off and took the X-Van. Then he was back with Logan and the other Brotherhood members," Jean said, shaking her head. "This is one strange Saturday morning," she sat down next to Kitty.

"I didn't see Alvers there though," Scott said, sitting down next to Jean.

Kitty's expression suddenly changed from surprise to anger. "Well good, because after what he did, I don't want to see him! Ever!" she abruptly got up and stormed out.

"Did I say something wrong?" Scott looked at Jean.

"Lance stood her up again last night. And Kitty was really looking forward to the date. She's furious."

"That low-down..."

"Scott, I understand you. I totally agree with you. I think Lance is just going to hurt Kitty too. But you have got to stop getting so over- protective."

"I am not over-protective."

"Does this sound familiar? 'Kitty where are you going; who are you going with; do you need anything for your date; is that creep Alvers bothering you; don't be out too late...'"

Scott raised his hands up. "I get it Jean. I'll try to be less... annoying."

Jean smiled. "That's better."

* * *

Hank gasped when he pulled Lance's shirt off him to examine the bruises and cuts.

'Charles, Logan, I think you'd better come in. Ororo too,' he said through the mental link Xavier had set up between Hank, Logan, Ororo, and himself.

Moments later Charles wheeled in, followed by Storm. Logan was last, roughly pushing Pietro and Tabitha out.  
"We'll let you in later!" he growled as he shut the door.

"I can't believe they went in without us! We shouldn't have left Lance alone in there!" Pietro kicked a fallen cushion to the wall.

"I know! It's not like they're Lance's friends!" Tabitha agreed, angrily throwing a few bombs at the cushion, which promptly blew up.

"Calm down guys, Lance's okay, right? We don't have to worry," Fred said, but his voice was uncertain and nearly pleading. He was sitting on the couch next to a quiet Todd.

Tabitha turned to the two andit was only then that she fully realizedupset they were. She looked over at Pietro in case he hadn't heard. He had, and was looking back at her guiltily.

They all relied on Lance for support, he was the solid one of the group, the one everyone turned to for help and advice. Lance was their friend and leader, the responsible one that everyone trusted to make everything all right. In fact, after Mystique's disappearance and Magneto's no-show, Lance had taken up several jobs to pay the bills and buy food for all of them.

The Brotherhood was the family that none of the members had ever really had before, and Lance was like an older brother to all of them, especially to Todd, who was only fifteen and younger than all of them.

Pietro relied on Lance as much as the others, but his pride allowed him a little more distance and he was a little more secure than both Todd or Fred in that his social relationships were more on the positive side, especially his popularity among girls. Nonetheless he was just as dependent on Lance as were the two boys: he strived for attention; people had to show him they cared constantly. And so they did, sometimes more directly, other times through the Brotherhood way of teasing and jokes. Humor was one thing you needed to have if you were going to survive; they had found that out long ago. Even Lance, the most serious out of the group, made jokes when someone was hurt or sick. Pietro had often marveled at the older boy's ability to calm everyone down, to make them feel safe, including Pietro himself. He wasn't able to comfort others as Lance did, and at first he had even been jealous of the quality. Even now he found himself wondering how the older teen managed to make things right for everyone in the toughest times. He himself had come close to breaking down a couple times before, but he had managed to get through that. Pietro seriously doubted he would have been able to had Lance not been there, had the Brotherhood not been there.

Tabitha was more independent than the boys and at times it wasn't as clear if she considered Lance to be the leader. But everyone understood that she did, even if she didn't show it sometimes. And as her respect for him was unspoken but acknowledged, so was her protectiveness for the boys. She was an intense defender, even though she did not show it as obviously as Lance did. Sometimes she helped him out with the bills, even, but she was too careless to keep a job for more than a few days, especially with her powers. So she, like the rest of her friends, looked to Lance when someone was sick, trusted him to take care of things when there was trouble. It was Lance who took it upon himself to take care of the others, and she respected that and accepted him as the leader. He was solid, always there for them. Even in the middle of an argument he'd stop if one of them got hurt, checking to see if they were all right. Of course, when he was mad you really couldn't do anything about it, his temper was as strong as he was. But even at his angriest moments, he would never hurt them, not for real. They all knew that.

Todd and Fred were the least stable in outside relationships out of the Brotherhood. Todd was always bullied around and beat up when not with one of the others, and would get in a worried fit whenever one of the family was late coming home or got hurt. He was afraid of being alone, and though the Brotherhood would never tell anyone, he slept with a nightlight. Deep in his mind he was always afraid of being left alone, being abandoned. If the Brotherhood were ever to fall apart, Lance would survive; he was used to being on his own. Tabitha would be able to find another place to live; she was good at social relationships in her own weird way. Pietro would make do, one way or another. He wasn't one to be kicked down and accept it. Fred might be able to manage, he had a better chance than Todd; no one would bully him thanks to his size. At least out of emotional and physical torment, he'd only have one to worry about. But Todd was different. If they were ever to split up, he'd be lost. He wouldn't know what to do; it would break him. The Brotherhood knew this and treated Todd a little differently than each other; he was the youngest, the little brother of the family. And they would protect him.

Fred showed his concern in a silent manner; sometimes things would just get better on their own, and he could just stand aside and let them get better. Other times, he stood back and let the others figure out a solution, he wasn't secure in having decisions thrust upon him. He didn't trust himself to make the right choices. He saw Todd as a younger brother and protected him almost as often as Lance did, but other than that he relied on Lance, Tabitha, and Pietro for answers and support. He was, in a way, younger than Tabitha or Pietro because he was afraid to disagree with anything, fearing rejection. Fred and Todd had created a special bond between themselves; both were the outcasts of society. Lance was too, but he was different- some people actually respected him, outside the Brotherhood, though he probably didn't know it and they would never admit it. In Lance Fred saw what he wanted to become: someone others could trust to make all the decisions, someone whom people respected. Fred was at times the most vulnerable, maybe even more so than Todd, because he so desperately needed to be accepted, and to know that.

Tabitha and Pietro walked over to the couch and Tabitha laid a hand on Fred's shoulders while Pietro sat down next to Todd.

"It'll be all right," Tabitha said gently.


	12. Chapter 12 Limits

**Chapter 12. Limits.**

Hank motioned for Charles, Ororo, and Logan to come closer when they entered. Upon seeing Lance, Xavier and Ororo gasped and even Logan widened his eyes.

"What is this," Logan couldn't help snarling as he turned to Hank.

Lance's chest was covered in numerous scars, some years old, and more from less than a year ago. There were also a couple new wounds, but they were mostly mild to small scratches, with the exception of a long gash in his shoulder, extending down to his left arm, with some broken glass embedded in it. The worst of the scars were just healed enough to have been from a few month back.

"I'm not sure. The new wounds must be from the accident, but I don't know where he got the others."

"Some of them aren't more than a couple months old," Logan pointed out, looking at the scars again. "Like those," he rumbled, noticing that some of the scars looked strangely familiar.

"Yes," Hank agreed. "That's why I called you over."

"Where did he get them?" Ororo was troubled.

"I think we'd better call in one of the boys. Pietro, I think."

Hank, Ororo, and Logan turned to Charles at his words.

"You think it's a good idea, getting that hyper kid in here to see this?" Logan asked.

"I have a feeling he may already know about it."

Logan, Ororo, and Hank looked at each other, but Logan moved to the door and opened it.  
"Hey kid, get in here," he ordered.  
He saw the four sitting on the couch; it looked like Tabitha and Pietro were comforting the two in the middle. This was just getting weirder.

"Kid? As in?" Tabitha questioned.

"Not you. Speedy, get in here."

Pietro looked up and tensed at Logan's tone and expression. He let Todd slide completely over to Fred and got up, not even thinking to hide his worry and anxiety with an air of superiority, as he was his usual tactic.  
"What?" he asked as he entered the room. The answer presented itself when he saw Lance on the table, shirtless. His face clouded darkly.

"Pietro, could you explain to us how Lance got these scars?" Charles asked.

Pietro closed his eyes and didn't answer.

From behind him, Logan looked at the white-haired boy. "Well kid? Talk."

"Logan," Ororo quietly said, having seen the boy's eyes just before he closed them. Sadness, sorrow was there. But something else had been there too. Shame? Guilt?

"It's all right Pietro, you can tell us. We will keep it a secret, if that is what you want," Charles assured.

Pietro stood still for a long moment before opening his eyes. "All right," he said in a defeated voice.

"Who gave him those scars?" Hank asked.

"Some of them he got before he came here..."

"And the others?" Ororo asked.

Pietro was silent.

"And the others?" Logan repeated.

Pietro flinched at the harsher tone, and answered, his voice subdued. "Mystique and Sabertooth... my fath- Magneto."

Logan looked from Pietro to Hank, Ororo, and Charles. He hadn't expected that answer. He had not even thought of Mystique or anyone specific as a matter of fact; he had expected that Lance had gotten them from some rough fights or something to that effect. But then he glanced at Lance, and realized which of the scars he had recognized.

"Sabertooth," he growled.

Neither Ororo nor Hank had expected such an answer either, nor what the words implied. Charles was silent, a shadow fallen on his face.

"Why Pietro?" Ororo asked, her voice calming.

Pietro looked down at the floor. His voice was quiet, both remorseful and dejected. "Sometimes because of Pryde. Other times... for other stuff. A lot of times..." he stopped.

"It's all right, go on Pietro," Hank encouraged reassuringly.

"A lot of times instead of us," Pietro said, his voice barely audible. He closed his eyes again, not looking up.

"What do you mean?"

Pietro didn't open his eyes, but answered the question.

"He took the blame for things we did, and when he couldn't make it seem like he was responsible, he did something worse so we'd be forgotten."

There was a silence. None of the adults knew how to respond.

"We never meant for him to take that; we didn't know about it for a while." Pietro's voice was hardly a whisper. "He never told us. Even after we found out, he told us it wasn't our fault."

He closed his eyes, gripping his hands into fists, straining to keep the memories away. But it had been awoken in his mind, and he couldn't stop it. Clearly he remembered everything that had happened that day.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_Lance wearily started up the staircase to his room, leaning heavily on the wall. He struggled against the pounding headache he had, but it was the least of his problems._

_It was three in the morning, and he had left the house at nine during the night. How he was going to explain that to the guys, he didn't know. All he could think of was that he had fallen asleep outside, but that was hardly believable._

_"Lance, where the hell have you been!" Pietro shouted, running out- from Todd's room, to Lance's surprise. "Todd's been going insane, he thought you left or something. The least you could do was call!"_

_Fred walked out of Todd's room as well. "Todd, he's back. See, he was just out a little late. There was no need for you to worry so much," he said, ducking back into the room. He came back out with a red-eyed Todd._

_Pietro remembered Lance's surprised look at seeing them awake, and the way his expression changed at hearing their words. He remembered how pained Lance had looked to see Todd that way. He remembered how softly the older boy had spoken, mumbling apologies, telling them they shouldn't have stayed up because of him, that they shouldn't have worried because of him._

_Todd had brightened up as soon as he had seen that it really was Lance, and he had jumped down the steps without even thinking, just reacting- to hug him, to the latter's surprise. Pietro had noticed how Lance had braced himself for the impact as soon as he realized what was happening. But he hadn't been able to help gasping in pain when Todd hugged him. Lance stepped back and slid down against the wall as Todd let go, confused._

_Then it had dawned on them._

_"Lance? Are you hurt?"_

* * *

Charles picked up Pietro's thoughts without even trying; the emotions were so strong that he couldn't help it. When he saw the flashback he let out a mental sigh and silently relayed it to the other adults.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_"Lance? Lance!" Pietro ran down to help the oldest Brotherhood member, followed by Fred._

_"Here," Fred had said, and the two supported Lance up the stairs; he had refused to be carried. Todd was beside them, fear in his eyes._

* * *

Pietro felt a tear flow down his cheeks and fall to the floor, followed by more. They left dark stains on the carpet. He was shaking, and tried to stop, to no avail. He remembered how Lance had been more worried about Todd than about himself that night; even as they walked up the steps to his room he had been murmuring that he was fine, trying to reassure the frightened boy.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_"It's all right Todd, don't worry. I'm fine," Lance said, his voice soothing._

_"I'm fine really, it's all right. I'm really okay," he kept repeating, making sure the other boys heard him, especially Todd. They got him to his room and he sat down on the bed, though he felt like he was going to collapse._

_"It's late, you guys need to get some sleep."_

_"Not until you tell us what happened," Pietro heard himself saying._

_"'Tro..." Lance propped his arms on his knees._

_"Lance, what happened?" Fred asked._

_"Fred... Pietro... I'm fine... I really am, Todd."_

_"Lance, we're not leaving until we get some answers," Pietro insisted._

_"Later." Lance didn't meet their eyes. "You guys need to sleep. Just go to bed all right? I'm fine, just tired."_

_"We-are-not-going-to-bed!"_

_Lance sighed. "Fred, take Pietro and Todd; get some sleep?"_

_Fred looked at Lance, his eyes showing his every thought- his concern for his friends, his loyalty to them, and his fierce determination to help. "Sorry Lance, I'm with 'Tro on this one."_

_"Todd?" Lance looked over at the youngest boy, his voice nearly pleading._

_"How'd you get hurt, Lance?" Todd asked, his voice trembling._

_Lance sighed. "If I tell you, you'll all go to bed?" he asked, resigned._

_The three nodded vivaciously._

_"Mystique took me to some place- an abandoned building, I think, and made this big fuss about how I always mess up the house and all. She also seems to dislike my hair," Lance said, a weak grin on his face._

_Pietro, Fred, and Todd had been shocked, but had Lance acted as if he was reading the menu for the night's dinner. As if it was nothing._

_"Now will you go get some rest?"_

_"Lance! What do you mean Mystique... she beat you up?" Pietro said, his voice trailing off._

_"No! I'm fine, all right? Would you go sleep already?"_

_"Lance... how bad is it?" Fred managed to ask, and for a person of his size, his voice sounded extremely frail._

_"It's not bad at all! I'm fine!"_

_"Lance, show us." Todd said softly._

_"What?"_

_"Show us so we can get you something to help."_

_"I'm fine, guys! Just go get some sleep!" his words were rushed now, but he still tried to make it look like nothing was wrong._

_"Lance..."_

_"Go sleep! Leave me alone and go sleep! I'm fine; don't worry over me!"_

_"I'm sorry Lance," Pietro ran over and quickly pulled Lance's vest and shirt off him. He dropped the shirt in shock when he felt something wet and sticky on it- it was soaked with blood; the dim lighting and black color of the shirt has simply been covering the crimson._

_The three younger boys gasped when they saw the cuts, bruises, and gashes on his upper arms, chest, and back. There was no place on him that lacked blood or had no bruises._

_Lance quickly snatched a shirt lying on the floor and put it on. "It's nothing."_

_"Todd, get the medicine box. Fred, get a towel soaked in water."_

_Pietro looked at Lance as the other two boys rushed to their tasks. "I don't believe this- I'm going to tell father about this, he'll make sure Mystique never does this again!" he shouted, unable to contain his anger._

_Lance paled. "No Pietro, it's okay, don't."_

_"Look at yourself and say that! Look at me and say that!"_

_"Pietro... I'm fine."_

_"Don't lie to me, you suck at lying. I'm going to call father as soon as I get you some bandages or whatever you're supposed to do for this."_

_Lance sighed. He hesitated, but spoke before Todd or Fred could hear them._

_"Pietro, he was there."_

* * *

Ororo walked over to the boy and gently pulled Pietro closer. He let himself be hugged, though he was tense- rigid with mortification. "It's not your fault, Pietro."

"I... I let it happen. I never bothered to see how Lance was doing; I never thought to check up on him for once... he's always looking out for us," his voice broke. "And when I did find out... I... I didn't do anything." His shoulders shaking harder and his entire figure quivering, he felt tears falling down freely against his wishes.

"It's not your fault Pietro," Ororo hugged him tighter.

* * *

_(Flashback)_

_"It's not your fault Pietro!" Lance grasped the silver-haired boy's shaking shoulders. "It's not your fault," he repeated firmly, looking at Pietro in the eyes as Todd and Fred re-approached the room. They stopped at the door, not knowing what to do._

_"It's all right guys, come in," Lance said, letting go of Pietro's shoulders._

_For a long while they were silent. Lance let Todd and Fred put some healing cream and antibacterial ointment on his wounds and bandaged himself._

_"Why did she do this?" Pietro asked as Lance cut the bandage and tied the ends together._

_"What?" Lance looked at him._

_"You don't mess up the house... if anything you clean it up. You said it was because you messed up the house," Pietro said quietly._

_Fred's eyes widened in realization; Todd froze._

_"Lance... you took the blame?" Pietro asked, looking at him, wanting to be wrong but knowing that, for once, he was dead right._

_"No guys, it's not like that! I busted up Mystique's stuff and she just got pissed. You know how she is. One minute she's fine, the next she's screaming bloody murder and ready to kill you," Lance explained, trying to make them believe him, trying desperately to make them believe him._

_"Lance... why'd you do it? We can take a little..." Fred whispered, his words breaking off, his voice unnaturally soft for someone of his dimensions._

_"Guys believe me, it wasn't like that."_

_"Damn it Lance, you shouldn't have to take the responsibility for something you didn't do! You don't have to be the one covering for the rest of us all the time!" Todd shouted, breaking into sobs, his shoulders heaving._

_"No Todd, it wasn't like that. Please..." Lance got off the bed and sat down on the floor next to Todd, putting an arm around him, drawing him close, resembling what a father would do for a child. "It wasn't like that. I was stealing some money from her, broke something in the process, and she caught me in the middle of it and was just ticked off. I'm telling you, it wasn't like that," he said, his words strong._

_"You know how she is, she has those must-kill urges. I wasn't so good at keeping my temper either. And she hates it when I argue withher or talk back. It wasn't like that. I swear, it wasn't like that at all."_

_After a long moment, Todd looked up at him. "You swear?" he managed to say._

_"I swear Todd. It's just me. You have to believe me."_

_Todd looked at him, finding comfort in Lance's chocolate brown eyes. "I believe you," he said at last._

_Lance mentally sighed in relief and looked over to Todd and Fred. "You believe me too right?"_

_Fred shifted uncomfortably, remaining silent._

_"Come on Fred, I'm always in trouble for something or other. I just got caught sooner this time, before Mystique cooled down."_

_Fred looked at Lance. He hesitated but finally nodded. "You're okay?"_

_"'Course I am. And I won't get caught the next time, so don't worry. I'm fine; you guys exaggerate everything. It's no big deal. Pietro?"_

_Pietro felt Lance's steady gaze on him. He didn't believe a word of it. But if he said no, Todd and Fred would be upset all over again, and that would in addition hurt Lance even more._

_"...I believe you."_

_He saw Lance relax. After a few more minutes, Lance sent them to bed, saying if they bothered him any longer he'd get no rest as well. Todd left after one last confirmation that Lance was fine, that he'd be in his room after a minute to check up on him, and that he would be there in the morning as always. Fred asked if Lance wanted anything, to which Lance replied: "I want you guys to leave me alone and sleep. I've been saying that all night, go do it already," Fred gave a small grin back at Lance and left._

_Pietro lingered behind and waited till he heard the doors of the other rooms close before speaking._

_"Lance..."_

_"Come on 'Tro, sleep," Lance's voice was imploring._

_"Lance, why do you always have to be the one taking the blame? Can't you just let yourself stay clean for once? We can handle things for ourselves you know."_

_"I know Pietro... I'm sorry."_

_"You're sorry? See, why are you the one apologizing all the time? I don't get it Lance, you have nothing to apologize for most of the time, but you're always the one doing it."_

_"Pietro..."_

_"I don't get it, why do you have to take the blame... why can't you just worry about yourself for once..." Pietro broke out, tears in his eyes. But he refused to let them fall, wiping them quickly so Lance couldn't see them._

_Lance put a hand on Pietro's shoulders, subtly holding on._

_"I don't take the blame Pietro. You gotta trust me on this. I just happen to get into trouble a lot. It's always been like this. This is me being me. It's just me." Lance said as he drew Pietro closer in a comforting embrace._

_Pietro looked at him, not sure whether to believe him or not._

_"I mean it. This is just the way I am. I'm the one that gets into trouble, I always have been. So don't worry yourself over me."_

_Pietro stared at Lance for a long time before he let himself believe Lance's words._

_"All right."_


	13. Chapter 13 Maybe

**Chapter 13. Maybe.**

Ororo looked at the men in the room as Pietro calmed down, his breathing regular again.

The flashback had shaken him, but the memory ending with Lance's comforting words had somehow managed to solace him.

Pietro wiped the tears and pulled away from Ororo. "Thanks," he murmured.

"Are you all right Pietro?" Ororo asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Charles studied the boy to make sure he was telling the truth, and then nodded. "You can go back out when you want to, we won't ask you anymore questions."

Pietro nodded. He stood there for a moment; then he took a quick minute to clean himself up before opening the door and walking out, rejoining his anxious friends.

* * *

"Kid's got some serious problems," Logan said after Pietro had left, a veiled attempt to get things to feel somewhat normal.

"He feels guilty about Lances protective actions... Charles, these kids are troubled," Ororo looked at the others.

"Yes, I hadn't realized how serious this was. And I didn't know about the beatings. The flashback you saw from Pietro wasn't the first time, nor the last," Xavier closed his eyes. "It seems we have let them be for too long. I had hoped to let them come to their own conclusions on the world, to let them join us upon their own wishes; but I hadn't known what was going on. Had I known, I would have taken action before this," he sighed.

"It seems like Avalanche was always more than just a leader figure for the Brotherhood, we just never saw beyond that," Hank said, moving his gaze back on the teen, wondering what exactly was the relationship between the other Brotherhood members and him.

"Yes, but we still don't know enough to make any conclusions as to what is really going on."

"Perhaps we should ask another to come in, I don't think they'd be willing to talk if they were together. It took a lot for them to ask for our help, if it were themselves I have a feeling they wouldn't have come, unless the situation had switched and Lance had brought one of them in," Ororo said.

"This is great and all that, but weve got four messed up teens in the waiting room, all with potentially destructive powers. Shouldn't we go ahead with Shakedown's treatment first?" Logan spoke up, interrupting the discussion.

"You're right Logan; that is the bigger problem at hand," Xavier sighed, turning his eyes on Lance. "We still dont know why this happened, but I have a feeling it was connected to the mutant power I picked up last night on Cerebro."

"But Charles, that was huge, and it was nothing like Lance's usual pattern," Hank said as he washed the blood off Lance with gauze. "Not to mention it died out abruptly."

"I'm guessing it might have stopped after Lance fell unconscious."

"But what does this mean?" Ororo asked.

"We'll have to ask Mr.Alvers once hes awake."

* * *

"Even I can't answer five thousand questions at once!" Pietro said, quieting his friends down. "One question at a time."

"Did you see him? Is he hurt badly? How bad do you think it is?" Todd asked.

"That's three questions, but yes I saw him; he doesn't look that bad, he just has that one gash on his arm and the rest are little scratches."

"My turn: does he have any bones broken?" Fred asked.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me."

"Why'd they call you in and not us?" Tabitha wondered. "It's not like we couldn't relay his status just as well."

Pietro looked away. "They saw his scars."

Todd and Fred immediately froze.

Tabitha looked at Pietro. Even though she had not been with the boys when Mystique and Magneto were around, she knew what had happened. "...so they ask you about it?"

"Yeah... and I just told them," Pietro said, eyes downcast towards the floor, feeling bad about giving up the secret. Bad? Understatement of the year.

"Nah, its all right. Mystique and Magneto aren't around anymore, they'll just forget it," Fred said.

"Yeah it's not like they care enough to remember," Todd agreed.

"Think so?" Pietro asked. "Still..."

"Still nothing, Quickie. It's all right," Tabitha said, her words firm and ending the discussion.

* * *

"Maybe it really was Avalanche last night, this could only have come from one of his avalanches," Logan said, examining Lances clothes again.

Another hour had passed since the Brotherhood had arrived; it was now 1:30.

"Yes, and the damages seem to be from having things fall on him, one way or another. So it all fits, with the exception of one thing: why was the mutant signature so different last night? And why made Lance do this?" Hank replied; wrapping Lances right leg in a cast- it had been broken.

"We can only assume until he tells us, but its obvious he didnt do this on purpose, or he had not been expecting such severe results," Ororo said.

Logan turned. "The kids should be getting curious by now. And Im talking about the ones living here, not the four outside this room."

"Yes, wed better go check on them," Charles nodded and telepathically sent messages out to all the X-Men, telling them to gather in the dining room for lunch.

"Ill go with ya, Ororo can help Hank out," Logan said.

When Logan and Xavier walked out of the infirmary, both were further disheartened at the sight of the four teens on the couch, asleep. Pietro and Todd were each leaning next to Fred on each side. Tabitha was next to Pietro, but stirred when she heard them close the door.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned; it was another second or two before she recognized them and remembered where she was.

"How is he?" she asked, getting up, taking care not to wake the boys.

"We still dont know for sure," Charles replied. "He hasnt woken up. But he has a broken leg, a deep gash on one shoulder, and he has some bruises."

"Why isnt he waking up?"

"Were still not sure, but it seems to be a light concussion. He may just be tired."

"Idiot," Tabitha muttered. "Whyd you have to go and do this to yourself," She turned her attention back on the two adults.

"But it wont be anything serious, right? Nothing dangerous?"

Charles didnt meet her searching eyes. Logan sighed and stepped closer to the girl. "Ki... Tabitha, nothings certain yet. Hank will be able to tell us more soon. In the mean time, were going to lunch, gotta see what the kids are up to. Youd better come along."

Tabitha was still; Logan wasnt sure if she was too depressed to answer or just thinking. Then she spoke, her voice concrete and decided.

"Hell be fine. Lances always okay in the end. Youll see. Hell be up and ordering us around in no time."

Logan couldnt help but marvel at the strong conviction in her eyes. She was absolutely certain she was right. He hid his surprise as well as he could before talking, succeeding in making it almost invisible.

"How do you know?" he said, his voice stopping her as she turned towards the Brotherhood boys again, to wake them. She looked back at him.

"Because Lance would never leave us," she stated, her tone implying that it was obvious.

Logan looked at her, his doubt visible. He didnt understand how the girl could speak with such clarity, as if she was reciting a scientific fact.

Tabitha smiled weakly. "Lance would never leave us," she repeated.

"Not when he knows we depend on him," she turned around fully to face Logan and Xavier. "That one time he left us to join you- it wasnt even a week, just a few days, and we were a wreck. He was so surprised to find us that way when he got back, since we hadnt talked to him at school, he really hadnt known. I dont think he really believed it, even when he saw us. Hes such an idiot. He still doesnt get how much we need him, just thinks we depend on him to take care of the money and stuff."

Tabitha closed her eyes at the memory. Lances return had been great, of course, and it was during his leave, up to his return that they had really realized what Lance meant to them. And upon his return- what Lance thought he meant to them. And what Tabitha found unbelievable was that the two ideas were so different, so far apart, that they were in two different worlds. What she found even more unbelievable (which she had previously deemed impossible) was that his thoughts were still the same. "He never thinks hes good enough for anybody," she murmured, now to herself.

Opening her eyes again after a brief minute, she turned, leaving a silent Xavier and rather stunned Logan.

"I know for sure that Lancell be okay... because we cant afford to lose him," she said softly, her eyes resting on the other members of the Brotherhood. After a silent pause, she moved over to the couch and gently laid a hand on Freds shoulder and shook him lightly. Fred woke at the touch. It took a minute for him to realize where he was, then, seeing Tabitha, woke the two boys on his sides.

"Im going to get us some food," Tabitha said. "Tro, you want to get our clothes?" she asked, motioning to their sleepwear.

Pietro nodded and was gone, returning a few minutes later, fully dressed and carrying their usual civilian garb.

"...Lance okay?" Todd gathered up the courage to ask.

"Hes fine, just a broken leg and that cut on his shoulder. Hes sleeping though," Tabitha answered.

Todd nodded. That was enough for him.

Pietro and Fred knew better than to ask for details.


	14. Chapter 14 No One Around

**Chapter 14. No One Around.**

"You have to swear you won't tell them," Tabitha demanded.

"I promise you, I won't tell anyone anything more than what is necessary," Charles reassured.

"Swear you won't tell." Pietro repeated.

Charles sighed. "I swear. But you have to trust me now; I am trying to help you."

The teens shuffled, shifting in their spots guiltily.

"We're not used to getting outside help," Fred explained.

"Yes, I understand. Now, are you certain you won't come down for lunch?"

"We're not leaving Lance. Tabby can get us something," Todd said.

"Very well. We will be back soon."

The boys nodded as Xavier, Logan, and Tabitha left. After the door closed, they returned to the couch; they were hungry, now that the thought about it. Pietro and Tabitha hadn't eaten anything all day; Todd and Fred had a little breakfast before but nothing else. But they wouldn't leave Lance; food could wait. And they were certainly not eager to meet any of the other X-Men. The four adults they could deal with, more was too much.

* * *

"Vhat's ze meeting about?"

"Don't know; and don't bother asking Scott and Jean, I've already tried and they're just as clueless as we are," Evan shrugged at Kurt.

"Whoa look at this!" Bobby shouted, drawing everyone's attention to him. The New Recruits were crowded around the TV, watching the news.

"...the exact cause of the accident is still unknown, but police suspect that something triggered the gas explosion. No explanation has been offered so far on the huge crater that has appeared however; despite the fact that it looks like some sort of crevice, experts deny an earthquake as the cause. The reasoning behind this is that, in addition to the fact that Bayville is not naturally prone to earthquakes, though there has been some recent discussion on that matter; an earthquake of that level would have been felt in Bayville as well. But there seems to be no other plausible explanation for the situation as of now..."

"Earthquake?" Amara wondered out loud.

"Sounds like Alvers," Scott frowned deeply, eyes darkening behind the ruby quartz sunglasses.

"Speaking of which, are the Brotherhood still here?"

"Don't know. They might be, but probably not."

"What were they doing here anyhow?"

"Who knows."

"Nothing good, that's for sure."

The conversation spun around the room, each person giving her/his thought on the matter.

"Please sit down," Xavier said as he entered the dining room. The X-Men moved to take seats around the table, but froze at seeing Tabitha walk in behind Charles and Logan.

"Boom Boom?" Kurt stared at her.

"Hey Blue, what's up?"

"I'm fine, how are... vait, vhat are you doing here?"

"Getting lunch."

"No, I mean vhat are..."

"Everyone, settle down. Tabitha is here as a guest, as are the Brotherhood boys," Charles said as some of the X-Men started getting up. They sat back down, some very reluctantly.

Jean broke the tension with the question that was on everybody's minds.

"Professor, why are they here?"

"Well..."

"I'm thinking about coming back," Tabitha cut in.

Xavier raised an eyebrow at her but decided not to say anything, at least for now.

"You are?" Kurt stared.

"Yeah why not. Must be really boring around here without me."

"Not so much," Scott replied.

Tabitha shrugged. "Coming from you, that's a sure sign of things Scotty."

Scott frowned at the comment and the nickname, but didn't argue. He wasn't exactly famous for partying; he accepted that.

"Then what are the others doing here?" Evan questioned.

"They were bored. And they're also trying to convince me that this is a stupid idea."

"Oh."

"As much as Ah love this interesting conversation, Ah happen tah be hungry. Talk while we eat," Rogue interrupted, and with that lunch was initiated.

* * *

Lance tried to get up. He could feel the vibration around him as the footsteps neared. He knew he had to get up, if only to avoid more torment. But he couldn't move.

He groaned as he was mercilessly kicked, coiling in pain.

"Get up."

Lance forced himself to try harder, but he could barely move his fingers, much less get up as was ordered. He couldn't even open his eyes.

Once again he was brutally kicked, actually tossed several feet in the air this time. Lance hissed in pain as he landed on his wounds, sliding a few feet across the concrete floor.

Lance stiffened as he felt himself being lifted into the air. He mentally prepared himself for the blow he knew was coming. He wasn't disappointed; seconds later he felt himself being thrown, then crash against the metal wall and fall to the floor. Quivering in pain, he tried to get up again, but couldn't. He bit back a scream as something was thrown at him, breaking on impact. He couldn't even react anymore, he just couldn't move. Breathing was a task hard enough, and right now, he couldn't even do that right.

"This just isn't as fun."

Lance unconsciously recoiled as the man headed towards him. He wished Mystique had come along after all; she at least had some level of pity. Even at her most enraged moments, she had limits on things. She would never go this far, nor stand around to let it go this far.

He felt the earth pulsing around him, as if to warn him. He struggled to move, but could barely manage a tremble.

He felt his face being forced up, and felt the claws tracing the outlines of his face. He opened his eyes, quickly closing them again automatically at the wave of pain crashing on him at the action.

He heard the satisfied purr- low, vicious, and pleased.

He felt a claw draw across his neck, then down to his shoulders, and cringed unconsciously as he felt the blood trickle from the slit.

"I could kill you."

The voice was amused.

He gasped sharply when the hand leaned down again and grasped his neck harshly, drawing him up and off his feet, suspended in the air.

He forced himself to face the heartless blood-red eyes. Sabertooth smirked maliciously.

"Beg. Beg for your life."

Deep brown eyes darkening, Lance summoned up all the courage and strength in him.

"No," he hissed.

He knew what the reaction would be, and closed his eyes as he was flung against the wall, crumpling in a heap on the floor. He realized he was losing consciousness, and was actually glad. At least he wouldn't feel the torture, and once he blacked out, he knew Sabertooth would get bored soon and leave.

He faintly heard Sabertooth's roar, and felt the white hot fire of pain engulfing him in its flames before he lost consciousness.

* * *

Lance screamed. Opening his eyes, he snapped up to a sitting position. He looked around desperately, his vision blurred and his eyes hurting at the simple act of keeping them open. He found himself in a foreign surrounding, and two figures in white walking towards him.

"STAY AWAY!" he snarled, and the earth shuddered at his words, but broke off as he grabbed his head in pain.

"Lance? Lance, it's all right, you're safe," he heard someone say... the voice sounded strangely familiar; yet the alarm only increased in his mind.

He opened his eyes once more, trying to ignore the sharp pain he felt at the action.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light and focus, but he could tell who the two were now. He immediately drew back against the wall. Before he could react further, the door opened from behind them.

"Lance!"

Lance turned at the voice, and faster than even Pietro's usual speed, Pietro, Todd and Fred were standing next to him. The fear in Lance's eyes diffused, immediately replaced by strength, and the will to protect- defensively he moved closer to the Brotherhood boys.

Pietro turned to Hank and Ororo, glaring at them for all he was worth.

"What-did-you-do-to-him-what-did-you-do-what-did-you-do-if-you-hurt-him-I-swear-"

Hank grabbed the shoulders of the white-haired teen in an effort to settle him down.

"Pietro, we didn't do anything to him, he just woke up," he tried to explain, but Pietro was already out of his grasp and next to Todd and Fred.

"Lance, Lance, Lance, are you okay?" Todd asked frantically.

Lance tried to stand up, pushing off the bed with much more effort than it should have taken.

"Stay still!" Pietro shouted and in a second, Lance was sitting again, courtesy of Pietro.

"I'm fine," Lance argued, but decided against trying to stand up again, the world swirling around him. It was only then that he realized that his right leg was in a cast. But even putting that under consideration, he felt way too heavy, like he had a mountain crushing him, pushing him down.

"You're okay right? Lance? Lance?" Todd looked at him, the fear projecting itself in his frenetic voice.

"Yes Todd, I'm fine, now breathe," Lance said, his voice more solid now. He moved closer to him, gritting his teeth and forcing himself not to let on how much it hurt; and reaching for Todd, he gently drew him closer.

"Todd, I'm fine, you have to calm down now, all right?" Lance said quietly, his voice soothing. He let go when Todd nodded and made a visible attempt to do so, but kept his hand still as Todd held on to it.

He turned to Fred and Pietro, both as frenzied as Todd was but expressing it differently; it was clear Pietro was having difficulty standing still, and Fred was frozen in his panic. He was looking at Lance, distress written all over him but unable to do anything in his desolation.

"Are you guys okay? I'm fine, really."

Pietro and Fred nodded, the first several times, the latter one slow nod.

Lance nodded reassuringly and turned his attention on the two X-Men standing behind the teens, looking bewildered. But once again he was interrupted before he could even begin. The door opened for the second time and Tabitha ran in, followed by Logan and Xavier.

"What happened? Lance all right?" Tabitha demanded, and when she saw Lance, she hurried over, stumbling and nearly falling in the process. "Lance!"

Lance managed to hold back a yell when she grabbed him.

"Lance, I knew you were okay. You are okay, right?"

Lance nodded and pried the girl off him.

"I'm fine, Tabby. Deep breaths," he said, looking at her, and was relieved to see her relax.

"And before anyone says anything else; why the hell am I here? Assuming here is the Institute," Lance turned to the X-Men, though he didn't fully divert his attention on to them.

Ororo and Hank had recovered from their shock at seeing the display, though Logan was still dumbfounded and Xavier just looked more troubled.

"Lance, the Brotherhood... your friends brought you here. You were hurt; do you remember?" Hank asked, his voice gentle.

Lance widened his eyes- he had been hurt? Was everyone else all right? For how long had he been out? Had he hurt anyone? He had made them come here? Did he hurt them? He concentrated, pushing the growing headache away as he tried to remember what happened. His memories flooded back and he grimaced at remembering what had happened. But at the same time, he remembered that he had been alone at the time. And he was relieved. They were all right.

"Yeah- I used too much of my powers," he muttered.

"So we heard; it's all over the news," Logan interjected. "You did a lot of damage, Rocky."

Lance scowled at the man. "I didn't do it on purpose," he snapped, but he felt Todd's grip around his hand tighten and toned down his anger. "I didn't do it on purpose," he repeated, his voice strong but not as angry.

"We believe you Lance."

Lance looked at Xavier as the older mutant continued.

"But how did you do it? What happened?"

Lance looked away. "That's not your problem."

"It is now. The public knows about what you did, they'll want answers. And the police are trying to figure it out. You want them to link this to you?" Logan focused on the teen.

"No!" Lance snapped. "My powers got out of control, all right?" he spat, his anger quickly rising.

"Lay off," Tabitha cut in, glaring at Logan. "Lay off; Lance didn't do it on purpose, it's not his fault."

"Yeah, it's not like you X-Geeks never have accidents," Pietro said, stepping closer next to Lance, as did the other boys.

'Logan, we must approach them carefully; they are very upset,' Xavier said to the man telepathically, to which Logan frowned but obliged, stepping back.

"Calm down, we're not saying it is. We just want to help- and to do that we need to know what happened," Hank said.

"I don't need your help," Lance glared at the four, and Hank was surprised at the hardness in his eyes. They were not those of a boy; they weren't even those of a teenager. They had seen too much for that.

Xavier gave Logan a look to stop the mutant from saying anything, and spoke.

"Lance, you're hurt; you must let us help you."

"I'm fine, don't worry. I doubt that you will, but in any case, don't."

"We would like for you to stay with us," Xavier watched as Lance widened his eyes in shock, but quickly narrowed them again.

"No. And you don't have to keep offering; it's not like there's any need for us to be polite to each other." he stated.

"Lance we are trying to help you. I picked up your signal on Cerebro last night, when you were using your powers. This was the first time something like this happened, wasn't it?"

Lance shifted his glance, not wanting to face the inquiring eyes.

"Yeah, so?" he muttered, cursing the fact that the guy he was talking to was a telepath.

"Lance, I would like to talk to you- in private."

"No!"

"No-way-there-is-no-way-we're-leaving-him-alone-with-you-no-way-who-knows-what-you'll-do-no-way-"

"Definitely not," Fred said as he grabbed Pietro before he could do anything; he tried to hold him still, and though it was nearly impossible, Fred succeeded- after all he had experience.

"I don't mean to do anything to him, I just think it might be better if we had a private talk," Xavier assured them.

"You're not leaving us out of this," Tabitha glared at Xavier.

"Tabby, it's all right," Lance said, his voice calm.

The Brotherhood instantly turned to their friend and leader.

"What?" Pietro demanded, though his voice was now lowered to a whisper to prevent the X-Men from hearing.

"I'll talk to him."

"You-can't-do-that-we-can't-trust-him-he's-"

"Pietro, don't worry. I'm only going to talk to him."

Fred looked at Lance. "Still..."

"Look, I figure I owe them something, I'll talk to him," Lance said, his voice even quieter than before.

They looked at him for a moment, then back at the X-Men, finally turning back to face each other.

Sighing, Tabitha nodded. "All right, I guess you're right."

"Yeah," Fred agreed.

"Fine. But-don't-take-long," Pietro said, arms crossed, disgruntled.

Lance nodded and gently let go of Todd's hand. "Go with them," he said as Fred and Pietro turned towards the door. Todd nodded reluctantly and followed suit.

Tabitha lingered. "You don't have to tell them anything," she said before leaving after the boys.

* * *

Ororo watched in wonder as the five teens talked amongst them; she couldn't hear everything clearly but she had an idea of what was being said. She was doubly surprised when the Brotherhood turned and left without a word.

"We'll leave you to talk," she said as she walked out the room as well, followed by Hank.

Logan reluctantly left, giving Lance one last look before closing the door.

Xavier looked at Lance.

"Now, tell me what happened."

"Can't you just read my mind and find out?" Lance muttered.

"Lance."

Lance sighed and fell back in the pillow propped between the wall and him.

"I don't know."

Xavier raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what happened. I just had this bad headache and my powers sort of went out of control. I don't remember anything after that till waking up."

Xavier furrowed his brows at the words. He submerged into thought, but was jerked out again when Lance spoke after a moment.

"No one was hurt, right?"

"No one was hurt. The gas station owner has injuries, but he isn't hurt nearly as bad as you are," he replied, slightly surprised that Lance was asking.

"Good..." Lance murmured. "What do you want me to tell you?" he looked at the older man.

"Excuse me?"

"What do you need to hear to let me out of this place?"

"Lance, don't think of it that way. We want to help you, but we can't unless you let us."

"I don't need your help. I need to get back to them, I can't leave them."

Xavier had no doubts on who the 'they' Lance was talking about were. "Everyone can stay here. And I know how badly hurt you are, so there's no use trying to hide it."

"Nothing I haven't been through before," Lance muttered, but even as he spoke, his headache was getting stronger, draining him.

"That is why I would like for you to stay with us- we'll help you make it stop."

Lance sighed and slumped into the pillow behind him. "You can't. It won't stop, I've had it nearly all my life, and I think I'd know better than you. I can deal with this, I have so far."

Xavier sighed. It was unbelievable how much pain he could pick up from just being next to the teen, and he was obviously hiding most of it. He couldn't believe Lance was actually talking to him and not crying out in pain. "But you've never had it looked at, never had it checked?"

"How would I? And even if I could have, who would have treated me? And how would they? No one knows how to treat a mutant."

"Hank can help you. And we have friends that would be able to lend a hand as well. We can help you. Lance, to be quite frank with you, I don't think this is a problem that will disappear, only get stronger as it develops. And you accident proves that as it does, you will lose control over your powers."

"I don't need your help, I can control my powers. I learned to before, I can do it again," Lance snapped.

"Even if you could, it will not be easy; do you want to go through more than you need to? What will you do if you can't control it?"

Lance turned away. "I'll deal with it."

Xavier sighed. This was not an easy talk, and he could see he wasn't getting anywhere. Even in the brief time they had been talking, the only thoughts he heard from Lance were worried, frenzied shouts inquiring about the Brotherhood. He could not find anything that was actually about Lance himself, besides the one recurring theme of regret and resentment at what Lance felt was his weakness. Xavier couldn't help but sigh again. He turned to his last resort.

"Lance, do you want to risk the chance of hurting others?"

He saw Lance's eyes widen and faced his glare when the teen turned back on him.

"What are you saying," he demanded.

"If this proceeds, and I am almost certain it will, you might not be able to control your powers. What if you were at school? Or at home?"

"I- I wouldn't do that."

"Lance, I know you wouldn't on purpose, but the possibility of accidents is always present."

Lance's eyes dimmed, his mind swirling. He was right. What if it had happened where there were people? What if it had happened... at home? He would have...

Lance shook his head and grabbed it in his hands, looking down. "What should I do?" he murmured softly.

"Lance, give me a chance. Give us a chance- we want to help you. And not just you, but Pietro, Todd, Fred, and Tabitha as well."

Lance shook his head.

"Pietro hates you. Todd can't deal with change. Fred's doesn't exactly like you either, plus he's not too good at adjusting either. Tabby left this place, I don't think she wants to come back," he said, his voice quiet but sure. "And face it," he looked up to meet Xavier's eyes. "No one wanted me around, and I actually tried to fit in."

Xavier's face clouded at that. "I apologize for that Lance. We should have trusted you. But it was difficult for us-"

"Difficult for you? You think it was easy for me? Easy for Pietro, or Todd, or Fred, or Tabitha? I left them! And for people that hate me. But I tried- I tried to fit in, even if it was just for Kitty. But face it; I don't fit in, and everyone in this place hates us. We're not staying," Lance's eyes were hard again.

* * *

"What's-going-on-can-you-hear-anything-are-they-talking-about-Lance-what-are-they-talking-about-are-they-talking-about-us-"

"Too fast, Pietro," Fred cut in. "And no, we can't hear anything either," he replied, looking at the silver-haired teen, who was busy glaring at the X-Men.

The Brotherhood had moved away from the door when the three X-Men walked out, opting to stare from a further distance, the other end of the room to be more precise. Which let them talk together without being interrupted, questioned, or overheard, but also prevented them from hearing anything going on inside the room and offering them no information on the talk between Lance and Xavier.

"This is unfair, why should Baldy get to talk to Lance before us," Pietro grumbled. "I want to know what happened."

"Yeah, we should be talking to Lance right now, not him," Fred agreed.

"Look on the bright side. After Lance finishes, we can go back home and then he can tell us everything," Todd said cheerfully, content to simply know Lance was all right.  
"Maybe we could do that over a meal," he added, remembering how hungry he was now. Tabitha had been rushed up before she could get them anything; she had hardly taken a drink of water before Xavier told her what happened and she ran up with Logan and him.

"Yeah I could really go for a burger right now," Pietro nodded, still not taking his eyes off the X-Men.

"Me too. And fries, and a soda, and some more fries, a milk shake, a few apple pies, a couple double cheeseburgers, pizza..."

"We get the idea," Pietro stopped Fred before he could continue on with the ongoing list.

Fred sheepishly gave a lopsided grin.

Pietro finally took his eyes off the three X-Men across the room to look at Tabitha, who hadn't said anything since they left Lance inside.

"Tabby, what's the matter with you? The X-Geeks bothering you too?"

Tabitha shook her head, both in reply to the question and to shake herself out of the trance she was in. "Just thinking," she shifted her eyes from the wall to the X-Men. "But they know something. And they're not telling us."

* * *

Ororo nodded to Hank. "I think we were right in our guesses, my friend," she said, her voice heavy.

"What guesses?" Logan asked.

"We think Lance may have a more serious condition than presumed," Hank replied.

"What kind of condition?"

"We think that his powers are harming him."

"What?"

"Lance mentioned having a bad headache just now, and while he was with us, I saw him taking pills one night. Hank has seen it too. It was late at night, and he obviously wanted to keep it a secret, so we never said anything. We thought he'd tell us if he wanted to."

"And to be truthful, we weren't so happy with him at the time," Hank admitted.

"So this has been going on a while?"

"Yes, but we don't know how long exactly. It might have only started after he came to Bayville, or before. We have no way of knowing without his telling us. And we don't know how serious it is," Ororo replied.

"Hey," Logan broke the flow of the conversation, nodding towards the Brotherhood. The teens were all looking at them.

"Well, if looks could kill," Hank turned towards the four.

"Boys, Tabitha, will you tell us about Lance?" Ororo asked.

"What do you want to know?" Pietro demanded.

"Just about his headaches," Ororo calmly answered, though she was surprised at how defensive his tone was.

Silence fell on the Brotherhood.

They would not meet anyone's eyes, not even each other's. It was a long while before Tabitha spoke. "He's had them for as long as we've known him," she replied. "And it's gotten worse since the beginning."

Ororo looked at the two men, her face darkened. All three had the same thoughts as they silently looked to one another.

"Why?" Tabitha looked at them, and the worry that had been in her eyes grew.

"We want the truth," Fred added.

"Yeah, and don't bother to sugarcoat things for us, we don't need that," Pietro resumed his glaring.

Hank looked at Ororo and Logan before speaking. "We think Lance's headaches... may be serious."

He reminded himself that he couldn't lie to them, that they had the right to know the truth as it was, but he couldn't help feeling horrible at seeing the pain pass the faces of the four teens.

"What do you mean," Tabitha demanded, staring at them. She stepped closer to the boys and put herself between the three adults and Todd when she felt him draw closer to her, Fred, and Pietro. She heard the light brush of clothing behind her as Fred stepped closer to the boy as well. Pietro stood next to them, his eyes full of shock, anger and hatred- unable to move.

"His headaches... they're related to his powers, aren't they?" Ororo asked.

"Yeah, so?" Pietro snapped.

"We think... we have an idea that using his powers may really be harming Lance, with those headaches in the least if not more." Ororo said.

"We know that," Fred replied. "That's why he hasn't been using them lately."

"Yes, but as you've seen from this accident, we fear that it might be more than just using his powers- we think it might be just the fact that he has those powers that's causing these headaches. They've been getting worse, haven't they?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, but Lance is okay, he told us so. He just takes a lot of aspirin..." Todd spoke up, his voice starting to tremble.

"That's not good," Logan murmured.

"If this goes on..." Ororo couldn't finish.

"What? If this goes on what!" Pietro shouted.

"The medicine doesn't help him these days..." Tabitha trailed off. "He takes more everyday, but he's still hurting..." she widened her eyes and looked at the X-Men. "What's happening to him! What's happening to Lance!" she shouted, stepping forward.

When they received no answer, the four turned and ran to the room.

* * *

Xavier looked at Lance. "I really am sorry for that Lance," he said, sighing. "And I know there's nothing I could say that could change what happened. But I do apologize." Before he could go on, the door slammed open and in ran four very frantic teens.

"LANCE!"

Both Lance and Xavier turned.

"Guys?" Lance looked at them in confusion.

"What-the-hell-is-going-on!"

"What's happening to you!"

Ororo, Hank and Logan entered the room after the teens.

"We had to tell them," Ororo said, looking at Xavier.

"Yes, I understand," Xavier nodded as the three adults joined them, Logan shutting the door after them.

"Lance-tell-us-what-is-going-on!"

"You tell me; what's wrong with you guys? Calm down, what's with all the shouting?" Lance looked at them, bewildered.

"Lance, are you sick?" Fred asked.

"No, I'm not sick; what is this?"

"We knew they've been getting worse, we never knew how much but we did. How bad is it Lance," Tabitha demanded.

"What are you guys..."

"Are-you-hurting-right-now? Damn-it-Lance, talk to us!" Pietro shouted, unable to contain himself. He was shaking all over.

The X-Men moved in to try to separate them, and give them time and room to calm down, but Lance was faster.

"Calm down Pietro!" Lance grabbed the younger teen by the shoulders. "I'm talking. Now listen," he said, his voice no longer one of a friend's, but taking on a surprising paternal tone, firm but soothing. He let go of Pietro and turned to look at Tabitha, Fred, and Todd as well. "You're going to have to tell me what happened first, I don't know what you guys are talking about."

"The X-Geeks told us this was serious. Is it?" Tabitha looked at him critically.

"No."

"Good," Pietro said. "You'd tell us if it was, wouldn't you?" he demanded.

"It's not."

"You'd tell us, wouldn't you?" Fred repeated.

"Yes, I would tell you."

"Then tell us now," Tabitha said, her voice strong.

"Guys, this is going overboard; what's the matter with you, I told you, I'm fine!"

"We know you're not, Rocky," Logan spoke up, his words reminding the five that there were others in the room.

Lance spared a second to glower at the man. "I am!"

"No you're not," Pietro looked at him. "You're lying again- just like the last time!"

"You have to tell us the truth Lance," Tabitha said, not even taking notice of Logan.

"We can handle it," Fred said.

Lance looked pained, now he wasn't sure what to do. "I do have the headaches," he finally said. "But they're not serious, as long as I take a couple pills, I'm fine. So stop worrying," he said, his eyes focused on his friends.

"Couple pills? Lance, we've seen you! We LIVE with you! We know how many bottles you go through!" Todd shouted, and jumping up to Lance he buried himself in the older boy's arms as Lance wrapped them around him.

"Shh Todd, it's okay," Lance softly murmured. "I'm here, it's okay." The last thing he wanted the X-Men to see was this kind of thing, but right now he didn't care. All he wanted to do was convince them that he was okay, for them to stop worrying over him. He gently held Todd in his arms, not even taking his eyes off the younger boy when Tabitha sat next to him on he bed.

"Lance, we're staying here," she said.

Lance's head shot up. The sudden movement jerked his arms, and he quickly readjusted them and was careful not to move as he spoke. "What are you talking about?"

"We're staying here. All of us," Tabitha repeated.

"Yeah, maybe the X-Geeks can help,"Fred nodded.

"I don't need help."

"Yeah you do," Pietro stated.

"I don't. And even if I did, they can't help. They can't even help their own; Summers still can't do anything about his eye blasts and Rogue still can't touch anyone."

"But you're not Summers or Rogue. You're Lance," Fred said.

Lance was surprised to see the conviction in his eyes. He slowly looked around to Pietro and Tabitha. Their looks made it clear that somehow, this point wasn't even arguable. He sighed.  
"So I'm me. Just makes the failure crystal clear, doesn't it. And they didn't want me around, remember?"

"Actually Lance, my invitation for you still stands- for all of you," Xavier interjected. Lance shot him a glare of daggers.

"Fine, so he might want us around," he grimaced in the middle of his words as his headache reached a particularly painful level. "I need an aspirin," he murmured; but he didn't move from where he was, not wanting to leave Todd.

Just as Hank moved to the cabinet and took out a bottle of Tylenol, the bottle was gone from his hands, and Pietro was handing it to Lance.

Lance shook out a handful and unceremoniously tossed them in his mouth and swallowed. He forced himself to stay still as his headache proceeded to slash at him, and spoke.  
"All right, so I have a small problem. It's nothing serious."

Hank, Ororo, Logan and Xavier had watched in shock as Lance took all of the pills; by a lot they had guessed it had meant he took three or four at the most. But he was taking seven or eight like it was nothing, and by the way he swallowed it without water, they could tell it wasn't the first time.

"Lance, we want to help; stay and let us try," Ororo spoke.

Lance looked over at her, still grimacing as he battled the headache.  
"No offense, but I don't exactly trust you; the last time I was here, you accused me of all sorts of things."

Ororo was pained at how cold and brittle his words were. She regretted that, she really did, especially now.

"We know. The point is, you're sick. And we might be able to help. Why don't you do yourself a favor and stay?" Logan spoke up, looking at Lance with calm eyes, his voice not as rough as usual.

"Lance, you have to stay," Todd said, and at his movements, Lance loosened his arms to let the boy sit next to him. He left an arm wrapped around his shoulders, but let the other fall back. He looked at Todd, then around at Fred, Pietro, and Tabitha.

He sighed.  
"I'll stay. But you guys don't have to deal with this."

"Like we'd leave you here, Lancey," Tabitha gave a small grin.  
"We're staying too. You'd be bored out of your mind without us, and you know it."

"Yeah, we're not leaving you here by yourself," Fred stated plainly.

"But you guys hate them," Lance sighed.

"No, we're okay with this. Besides, it was always Mystique and Magneto who hated them, we never really thought about it," Fred shrugged.

"And I've been here before, I can do it again," Tabitha added nonchalantly.

Lance shifted his eyes to Pietro.

"What? I'm okay with it," Pietro said, though he threw a quick dirty look at the X-Men afterwards.

"Guys..."

"No arguments. You'd do the same," Tabitha stated.

"Yeah, stop being stupid and just get used to the idea so we can stop the mushy crap and get on with this, the X-Geeks are still here," Pietro grumbled.

Lance allowed himself a small smile. He turned towards Xavier, Ororo, Logan, and Hank.  
"You actually want us around?" he said, his voice even but lined with open skepticism.

"Yes, we want to help," Ororo said.

"Providing that you let us," Hank added.

Lance finally nodded. "So, it looks like we're stuck here for now."

Charles smiled. "Welcome to the Xavier Institute."


	15. Chapter 15 Options & Choices

**Chapter 15. Options & Choices.**

"This is never going to work," Pietro dropped on to the bed.

"Probably not. But we have to try," Fred replied.

"Yeah I know; but that doesnt change the fact that there is no way the X-Geeks will ever accept Lance, much less us," Pietro replied.

"Chill out, we don't need them to accept us, we just need them to be okay with the  
idea of living in the same building for a little bit and not try to kill us in our sleep. And if we can survive school with them, and that's on top of Matthews and Kelly, this'll be okay. 'Sides Amara's all right, and the other New Recruits too," Tabitha said as she walked in with an armload of blankets.

"Were not worried about them, were worried about Summers and his little boy scout group," Todd replied as he walked in after Tabitha, carrying two pillows.

They had wanted to stay in the same room, but because the rooms really werent big enough to fit all of them, they had decided that Pietro and Fred would stay in one room, and Lance and Todd in another. Tabitha had declined her old room for the room across the hall from the two rooms that the boys occupied.

"Hear anything?" Pietro looked over at the two.

"No, Badger saw us before we could. At least Stormys keeping the X-Geeks away," Tabitha shrugged.

"They have no right to keep us out of this; this is Lance we're talking about. If Beast and Xavier know something, we should too!" Pietro grumbled angrily, falling back onto the bed. He refrained from using his usual terms for the two X-adults, reminding himself that this place was the only place that would willingly help Lance, if not the only place that could help to begin with.

"Well it was Lance who told us to check the rooms out," Fred offered, sitting on the bed across Pietro. It sank under his weight, but managed to hold up.

"Yeah. I vote we stop listening to Lance until he gets better ideas," Pietro muttered.

Before anyone could respond, a figure cast a shadow from the doorway, and they saw Logan standing there.

"Follow me," the older mutant grunted, and the four gave each other nervous glances before obliging.

They came to Xaviers study, where they knew Lance, Beast, and Xavier were. They suddenly got a familiar, yet distant feeling- the feeling they had after being sent to the principals office, back when Mystique had been around.

Upon their entrance, the three previously present occupants of the room turned. Pietro had brought Lances clothes from the Brotherhood house as well; so on the outside Lance looked the same as always.

"Thank you Logan," Xavier said as the man gruffly nodded and shut the door before sitting down.

"Now, it's almost six, I think we could have an early dinner today, and inform everyone  
about your stay," Xavier looked at the Brotherhood, who walked over next to Lance and took their seats next to him.

"Just like that?" Tabitha asked. "Theyre not going to be too happy about this."

"But as long as you are staying, youll have to learn to get along. Theres no better time than the present, as they say," Xavier replied.

"How do we know this isnt some plan to sic your X-Geeks on us?" Pietro narrowed his eyes at Xavier.

"The term is X-Men, Mr.Maximoff. And nothing of that sort will happen. In fact, please try to avoid all conflicts, as to make this transition as smooth as possible," Xavier replied, his eyes meeting the teens- calm and cool, but firm.

"Yeah, whatever," Pietro murmured, looking away. Lance gently reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, letting it rest there for a moment.

"Whats up with Lance?" Todd asked, his need to know overcoming his fear. "His health I mean. What are you going to do?"

"We dont know yet, Todd. Hank has run a few basic tests, and well be able to see the results tomorrow. I assure you, we will tell you everything when we do find out."

As Todd nodded, Fred took his turn.

"What about now? Did you take any more medicine Lance?" Fred asked, turning to the older boy at the latter question.

Lance quickly gave Xavier and Hank a glance before turning to Fred. "No, Im okay now. The pills I took before are working," he replied.

Charles and Hank took the hint and didnt say anything. Lance had, in fact, tried to take more, but Hank and Charles had stopped him before he could take them, fearing overdose. Hank had a strong suspicion that he would have taken the entire bottle had they not stopped him. He still couldnt understand how Lance hadnt overdosed; from what they saw so far, Lance took a lot of pills, and quite frequently.

"Ororo has already gathered everyone in the dining room, if there is nothing else, why dont we go down," Xavier said.

Lance got up, as did Hank and Logan, and was followed by four more reluctant teens.

"It wont be that bad," Lance reassured as they followed Xavier, Logan and Hank out.

"Yeah right, when does anything ever work out for us," Pietro replied, crossing his arms, but added, "Not that anything could stop us from trying."

"Thats the spirit Quickie," Tabitha grinned as she draped an arm over the boy.

"But does that make us persevering or stupid?" Todd wondered.

The five paused, taking a moment to consider the matter.

"Both," they all agreed with a shrug before continuing after the X-Men.

* * *

"This is so weird. Two unscheduled meetings in one day? And both full meetings, with everyone?" Evan said.

"Maybe Boom Boom really is going to come back," Kurt shrugged.

"Thatd be so weird," Evan replied. "I mean, shes okay and all, but shes totally Brotherhood now."

"Vell, ve never know. And Rogue vas a Brozerhood member at first too, but shes novhere near being one now," Kurt said as he and Evan took a seat next to Kitty. "Hey Kitty," he greeted, but only got a groan from the girl, who crossed her arms on the table and buried her head in them.

"Vhats vrong?" the German boy asked.

"Yeah, youve been acting weird all day," Evan said.

"Shes been mad since last night," Rogue said as she sat down. "But Ah think theres more tah it."

"Oh, yeah, the Lance thing," Evan said. "Yeah, that went real bad."

"Im like, still sitting here you know!" Kitty snapped as she looked up.

"Sorry," Evan apologized. "But I dont get why you even care about that jerk."

"Lance is like, so not a jerk; hes nice, and considerate," Kitty shot back.

"Which is why he didnt show last night," Evan replied.

"Ugh! Evan!" Kitty started getting up, but Kurt and Rogue shot Evan a look and pulled her back down.

"Calm down, Kitty," Kurt said.

"Just pointing out the facts," Evan murmured.

"Sorry were late; Bobby thought itd be nice to turn the entire dorm hall into an ice rink," Scott said as he and Jean sat across the three. The New Recruits filed in after him, quickly filling up the seats. Last to come in was Ororo, who sat down after a brief greeting.

"Whats this about, Auntie O?" Evan looked at the woman.

"Lets wait for everyone, Evan."

There was a moment of silence- everyone felt that something was wrong, and the silence was an awkward, uncomfortable one, which was unusual.

"Thank you for waiting," Charles said as he entered.

"Professor," Jean looked at him, as did everyone else.

"Are the Brotherhood still here?"

"Is Tabitha really coming back from ze Brozerhood?"

"Is Lance here?"

Looking at Scott, Kurt, and Kitty, Professor Xavier raised a hand to stop further questions. The three quieted and waited as he started talking.

"You must all be wondering why I asked you all to come down, and I will tell you, but first I must ask you to remain calm."

They nodded.

"Thank you. Now, I have important news. Tabitha will indeed be rejoining us. As will the Brotherhood boys."

It was strange enough that Tabitha was coming back, but the X-Men might have cheered, especially the New Recruits, had they not heard the latter words.

"Professor!"

"This is a joke right?"

"What do you mean, the Brotherhood?"

"You cant be serious!"

Charles raised a hand. "Please, everyone you have to remain calm. I have reasons for this, and I ask you to trust my decision. I invited them, and they have accepted my invitation. They will be staying with us."

"You gotta be kidding!"

"Theres something really wrong here."

"Vhy vould ze Brozerhood join us?"

"Ah cant believe this."

"Does this have to do with what was on the news?" At Jeans question, everyone retreated into silence.

"Yeah, does it? It was Avalanche, wasnt it?" Scott looked at the telepath.

"Yes and no. That was a result of Lances powers. It was however, an accident. Lance never had any intention of doing that."

"No way!"

"I dont believe zis!"

"Avalanche is a liar, dont believe him Professor!"

"Lance is not a liar!"

"That was way too serious to be an accident!"

"Yeah, hes lying!"

"This is crazy!"

* * *

Fred looked around nervously. They were waiting outside; Xavier had decided to break the news first, before they made their entrance. Logan and Hank had opted to stay with them as they waited, but this just made Fred more nervous. He looked at Lance, who was strangely calm and leaning against the wall, almost leisurely. Tabitha was in fact, leisurely, standing next to him. Fred often wondered how Tabitha could be so extremely relaxed and carefree, at least most of the time. Then again, they had all found ways to keep their sanity about them; Tabithas was her carefree attitude, Pietros was his egotistic manner. Well, maybe that was inherent, at least some of it. Fred moved his eyes over to the boy, and almost chuckled at the deadly glares he was giving the two X-Men, and nudged for him to stop. Todd was quiet, standing close to everyone. In fact, they had basically formed a circle around him, all standing nearby. Todds fear of the X-Men was greater than the rest of theirs, especially his fear of Logan, ever since their first meeting. Although he could just manage to stand his ground when he was with them, Fred didnt think Todd would be able to do even that if he was alone. Todd was really younger than he looked, even younger than he actually was. He was much like a child, and although Todd was Freds best friend, sometimes it felt more like Todd was a little brother. He gently put a hand on the smaller boys shoulders and remained still as Todd leaned closer to him.

They heard Xavier talk, and the reactions to his words. Finally, Logan glanced at them and Hank.

"Time for me to step in; Hank, bring them in," he said as he went inside. His entrance had an immediate silencing effect in the room.

"Thats our cue," Hank said, looking to the Brotherhood. Giving them what he hoped was a reassuring smile; he motioned for the Brotherhood to follow him. They instinctively looked at Lance, who nodded and started out first, one hand on the wall to keep his balance. He had put on a new pair of jeans, over his cast so that the injury was not visible. Tabitha, Todd, Pietro and Fred followed him in.

The Brotherhood entered to face a table of stunned, and mostly angry X-Men.

"The Brotherhood has no intention of starting any arguments, they have agreed not to fight as long as you do the same. I ask you all to keep an open mind and accept them, they will be joining us," Xavier looked at the X-Men, his last words firm and inarguable. Logan, Hank and Ororo reinforced this with their own looks.

The X-Men shifted uncomfortably in their seats, and Evan finally spoke. "Well at least you can tell us WHY they suddenly decided to show up," he mumbled.

Lance quickly looked at Xavier, his glance strong yet on the verge of pleading.

Xavier nodded, and turned back to the X-Men, who had not noticed the brief communication.

"I cant tell you the full story yet, but I can tell you I was the one to invite them, they simply accepted."

"Why would they do that? This has to be some plan to ambush us!"

"Think about it Summers," Lances voice cut in like cold steel. "You really think well do that when youve got a telepath around? Two, to be exact."

Scott glared at him, sitting back down, a little sheepishly but not taking his eyes off the Brotherhood, especially their leader.

"Look, lets make this easy. You dont like us; we dont like you. So lets keep the socializing to a minimum and just go our separate ways," Lances eyes turned to stone as he continued in the same tone as before, cutting and barbed enough to be insulting without actually saying anything; yet he was visibly holding back on his anger, at least visibly in the eyes of those who knew him.

"Fine, keep your team in line," Scott glared back, not giving up an inch.

"Worry about your own," Lance replied, unintentionally making the earth rumble as he clenched his fists. Quickly as it came, it was gone, Lance grabbing his head in pain. He would have given an arm to not do that in front of the X-Men, but he couldnt help it.

"Pietro," Tabitha quickly turned, and before the X-Men could make sense of what had happened, Pietro and Lance were out the room.

"See you around," Tabitha mumbled the courtesy and followed by Todd and Fred, left after Pietro and Lance. The three had to hold back everything they had not to run out, reminding themselves that not only did they not want to do that, but Lance would hate it if the X-Men even got an idea of his weakness.

* * *

As soon as they were in the hall and out of view, the four teens crowded around Lance, the worry and fear surfacing in their features.

"Lance, why did you do that!" Pietro snapped.

"I didnt mean to," Lance muttered, still unable to open his eyes because of the pain.

"Pie, we need something- aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, anything," Tabitha looked at the boy. "They should be in the medical room we were in before."

Pietro nodded and was off.

Ororo and Hank walked into the hall just as he left.

"Lance, are you feeling all right?" Hank asked.

"What kind of question is that," Lance muttered, forcing himself to open his eyes and stand up straight, one hand on the wall.

Pietro returned with a bottle- the Tylenol from before. Handing it over to Tabitha, he dashed out, returning with a bottle of water seconds later. He quickly gave it to Lance, who had already taken the medicine from Tabitha and was gulping them down, though Tabitha didnt let him take more than three.

"Im okay," he said as he finished.

"You sure?" Fred looked at him.

"Yeah, just a stupid anger quake," Lance replied. "They wear off fast."

The four teens literally sighed in relief.

Pietro turned to Ororo and Hank as soon as the crisis was over.

"You have a lousy medical supply for a place as big as this. I mean, a mansion, and only one bottle of Advil and just a half full bottle of Tylenol?" he said disdainfully.

* * *

"Vhat just happened?"

The X-Men broke out of their shock and managed to look at each other. They were all stunned- Lance had looked like he was in such pain.

"Whats wrong with him?" Evan asked. He, as well as some of the other X-Men had gotten up when the ground started shaking, and was now standing numbly. Kitty for one had nearly phased through her chair in a halted but subconscious attempt to follow the Brotherhood.

"Lance has a special condition- whenever he uses his powers, he gets headaches," Professor X explained with a sigh. "Hes had them ever since his powers first emerged, but we believe he is going through a change."

"What do yah mean, a change?" Rogue looked at him.

"We think it might be similar to what happened before with Jean."

"...His powers are evolving too fast," Jean murmured. "He cant keep up with it."

"Yes. But it may not be that at all. We wont know for sure until tomorrow. Now, they are joining us, and they have promised to try to stay on peaceful grounds as long as you try to do the same."

"Can ve even do zat? I mean, zis is ze Brozerhood ve are talking about. Vhat if zey do not vant to do zis afterall?" Kurt looked somewhat doubtful, though the worried look that had emerged after Lances exit had not left his face, and traces of concern could be found in the boys eyes.

"If you tried, Im sure you could," Ororo replied. 

"But they dont believe in what we do," Scott spoke up. "They dont believe in co-existence."

"Yeah, and they hate us. They tried to kill us more than once!" Evan added.

"I dont think they ever truly believed in Magnetos ideas. And they never actually tried to kill any of us. In any case, they have agreed to try for a better relationship. I ask you to take this chance," Professor Xavier looked around at everyone.

There was a long pause and a lot of hesitation, but they finally nodded.


	16. Chapter 16 Pater Familias

**Chapter 16. Pater fam****ilias.**

It was too dark. The spaciousness of the room only added to the frightening quality that the room and its foreign nature gave off.

"Lance? Lance, you there? Lance?"

* * *

Lance shook the sleep off when he heard the familiar voice. He never slept deeply anyhow, but at recognizing the panic in the tone, Lance quickly got up and turned on all the lights.

He mentally kicked himself; he should have known better than to fall asleep like that. He should have made sure everyone else had gone to sleep before lying down. He should have done more than just checking up on them once before going to bed. He should have waited for everyone to fall asleep. But he had been tired, as the rest of the Brotherhood had also been. Their every effort to avoid the X-Men hadnt helped that much either, and the only excuse they had been able to think of was that theyd be going to bed. So they did. Well, they sat around and talked a little, but Lance wanted to take the chance and let everyone really get some rest for once, so he sent them all off to bed soon enough. He had counted on their fatigue to help them fall asleep in the abnormally early hour, and for the most part, he was right. He certainly had been tired. But then again, he had had a building collapse around him. Though, personally, Lance would rather go through that a hundred more times than have to face Kitty after standing her up her again. Which was exactly why Lance hadnt left his room since they came back from dinner, except for a brief moment to check up on everyone. He dreaded the morning, during which he was certain hed have to face her at breakfast, directly or indirectly. But in any case, none of that was an excuse for carelessness. He knew better than to leave Todd alone, especially not when they were outside of their home.

"Todd? You okay?" He said, pushing himself off the bed already.

"Lance... I cant stay here yo, I cant."

Lance got up and sat down next to the quivering boy, cursing the cast on his leg that made him so slow in acting.

"Its okay Todd, its okay," he kneeled down next to the bed.

"No, I cant stay here man! Im... Im scared Lance. I cant stay here. I cant. Lets go home. I dont want to stay here. Get me out of here, Lance!"

Seeing the boy wrapping his arms around himself and start to curl up, Lance quickly but carefully moved closer and wrapped his own arm around Todd.

He knew Todd wasnt talking about the Institute, and he knew he had to get Todd to hear him- otherwise he might hurt himself.

"Its okay Todd. Dont be scared. Im right here. Im right here, Todd," he spoke, his voice taking on the gentle tone that he frequently used, but only the Brotherhood knew existed.

"Are you? I feel alone... theyre gone, Lance. Im scared. I dont want to be alone."

"Youre not alone. Im right here. Todd, listen to me, Im right here, youre not alone."

"Theyre coming. Theyre going to hurt me. I dont want them to hurt me. I cant stay here. I dont want to be alone. They wont go away. I dont want them to hurt me. Go away! Help me Lance!"

"Im here Todd. Youre not alone. Its all right. Focus on me, okay? Dont think about that. Im right here. Todd, listen to my voice, all right? Concentrate. Youre not alone. Im right here. Are you listening to me? Im right here. Theyre gone. They wont hurt you. I wont let anyone hurt you," Lance scooped the smaller boy into his arms, and held onto him as he broke out in heaving sobs.

He gently put an arm around his shoulders, and the other around his head, drawing him close.

"Todd, Im right here. Youre not alone," he repeated.

In his mind, Lance prayed Todd would hear him, hoping with everything he had that Todd would not withdraw.

Pray? To who?

He didnt know, but whoever or whatever it was, Lance was tremendously grateful when Todds trembling form calmed.

"Im right here, Todd," he kept repeating the phrase, and was immensely relieved when Todds whimpers and sobs at last ceased. He remained still, Todd still half on his lap.

The first time Lance had seen Todd this way, he hadnt known what to do, what to say. He hadnt even understood what was going on. But the next day, he had managed to get part of the story out of the younger boy, enough to know how to react; though really, that had been slowly acquired through experience. The third time, Todd had started ramming himself against the walls in mental turmoil. After getting hit a number of times, Lance had managed to calm him, and after spending the night in Todds room on a chair, Lance had gotten the full story out of Todd the next morning. And since then, Lance had known better than to say anything about Todds usually present fear of the dark, or to mention anything about leaving, even as a joke. The rest of the Brotherhood had found out as well, and none would ever let it be known that Todd had a nightlight in his room. By now, Lance was more than used to reacting when Todd had nightmares or just couldnt sleep. And unlike the way he had been in his first attempts, he was very good at comforting Todd now, and knew what was wrong almost immediately most of the time; experience had granted him that. Thank whoever/whatever he had been praying to earlier, for small favors. Sometimes there was almost nothing he could say or do that would ease the boy, and at those times Lance knew Todd wouldnt be able to sleep, he was too scared to even close his eyes. So he stayed up with him, or just talked to him until Todd finally fell asleep out of tiredness, in the early hours as daylight broke in golden waves across the sky, the sunlight hitting the curtains. Sometimes the rest of the Brotherhood took turns, but Lance knew they were uncomfortable with situations such as these and usually had them leave things to him. And it wasnt like they didnt have their share of problems; Lance didnt want them to be doing things he could do instead.

"Lance?"

"Im here."

"You wont go anywhere?"

"No. Im right here. I wont let anyone hurt you."

"I cant make it go away. I keep having the same dreams, the same memories. Playing over and over again. Like some broken record. I want it to go away, Lance. I cant stand it. I dont want them there, those memories in my head."

Todd shivered, and Lance briefly let on arm fall to the side, reaching over to grab the blanket from his bed. He wrapped it around Todd, drawing him in a gentle hug afterwards. The shivering wasnt because of the room temperature, but Lance knew the blanket would comfort him.

"I know Todd. I know. But youre not alone, Im right here. And I wont ever leave, okay?"

Todd nodded slowly, but he was still trembling. "I see them when I close my eyes, Lance. Theyre coming for me, theyre going to hurt me."

"Theyre not real, Todd," Lances voice was gentle. "Youre not alone anymore; youre with me, youre with us. Nobodys going to hurt you."

"I know theyre not real... but I cant help it, yo. Every night its like youre not there anymore, and it feels the same, and they become real again. I cant help it; it wont go away. Its like you turn off the light and everything goes dark, and theyre back again."

"Theyre not. And they wont be. Ever," Lances voice was firm and reassuring.

Todd faintly nodded, but Lance could tell the words werent as convincing as both of the teens wanted them to be.

"Todd, I want you to try to sleep. Im going to bring a chair over and sit next to you, okay?" Lance gently let his arms fall back, and gave a small but encouraging smile as Todd reluctantly let go. He got up, and trying not to look hurried, he grabbed the chair by the desk by the wall and carried it over, setting it next to Todds bed.

"You want me to keep the lights on?" Lance asked, and at seeing the boys hesitation, suggested, "How about I leave the nightstand on, but turn off the other light?"

Todd nodded, watching Lance expectantly. Lance quickly acted upon the wish, and making his way back over to the bed, helped the younger boy get under the covers. After spreading the blanket over Todd, Lance sat down on the chair, Todds eyes following his every move.

"Todd, you want me to get you a drink or anything?"

Todd shook his head. "Stay with me."

"I will. But try to go to sleep, all right? I promise, Ill be right here."

Obviously reluctant to close his eyes, fearing both nightmares and the thought of waking up alone, Todd nodded, shifting to a more comfortable position, but continued to look at Lance.

"Todd, I swear I will be here when you wake up. Im not going anywhere. Go to sleep," Lance looked at him, putting a hand on Todds.

Todd hesitantly closed his eyes, holding onto Lances hand and burying himself in the layer of blankets. It was a while before his breathing calmed and the shaking lessened. Finally, Todd fell asleep, more out of tiredness than anything else. Lance remained in the chair, looking at Todd with grief and worry, until he too fell asleep in exhaustion, leaning over on to Todds bed, his head on one arm; his other hand still holding onto Todd.

That was the way Hank found them in the morning.


	17. Chapter 17 Queen of the Brotherhood

**Chapter 17. Queen of the Brotherhood.**

"Hey kid, you awake?"

Tabitha stirred at the voice, opening her eyes. Where was she? Oh yeah, the mansion. She turned to the door at the sound of reluctant knocking- brief but solid.

"You awake kid?"

"Wolvie?" she groaned and rolled over, away from the door and the unwelcome voice, not wanting to get up.

But at the repeating of the insistent knocking, she rolled over and got to her feet, yawning as she walked over to the door and opening it.

"Yeah, whats up?"

"Charles wants to see you and the rest before breakfast, so Im here to pick you up."

"What about the boys?"

"Ororo and Hank are getting them."

"And I got stuck with you? How extremely lucky of me," Tabitha walked out of the room, not bothering to change- they only had one set of clothes at the Institute anyhow, so she had just gone to bed wearing her usual garments. She took a mental note to go pick up their clothes and things from the boarding house.

"Pipe down, youre not exactly on the top of my favorites list either. Well wait for the others in the study, they shouldnt be long."

"Not much of a morning person, are you," Tabitha commented nonchalantly as she walked beside him.

* * *

Hank knocked on the door, waiting for a response. When he got none, he repeated the action, but there was no change.

Finally, he tried the doorknob, and was glad to find it unlocked. He quietly and slowly opened the door, and stopped at seeing the rooms occupants. Lance was sitting on a chair by Todds bed, his head resting on the bed, lying on his right arm. Hank noticed awkwardness in the position, and realized that it was because one of Lances hands was on the side- holding on to something under the covers. He realized it must be Todd.

He hesitated; they looked so tired. But he had to wake them. Letting out a cough, he spoke. "Lance? Todd?

* * *

Lance vaguely heard someone calling him, and stirred, opening his eyes and pushing himself into a sitting position.

The moment he remembered where he was, all sleep left him and he was wide- awake, now staring at Hank, who was just inside the door.

Standing up, he instinctively placed himself in front of Todd. He cursed mentally- why hadnt he locked the door the previous night! Not locking the door, not making sure Todd was asleep before he went to sleep; what was he going to do next, burn down a house? Oh wait, he had already made a gas station explode. Close enough.

"Morning," he said, not knowing what to do and obviously nervous, both at being seen, and at Hanks presence itself.

"Good morning," Hank greeted, trying to act casual. "Charles asked you to join us in the study. Ill wait outside until youre ready," he said, noticing the teens clear anxiety. Lance nodded quickly, and Hank closed the door after him.

Running a hand through his hair, Lance let out a deep breath. Well, he was going to have to wake him sooner or later. He wished later, but that couldnt be helped. Leaning over, he gently shook Todds sleeping figure.

"Todd? Todd, wake up, its morning."

* * *

"Try to stay calm," Fred reminded as Pietro reached for the door.

"I know, I know," Pietro replied impatiently as he opened the door and walked out into the hall, where Ororo was waiting for them.

"Good morning," Ororo smiled at the two.

"Uh, yeah, good morning," Fred replied, not making eye contact, and looking at the wall behind Ororo rather than her. He unconsciously moved closer to Pietro, as did the other boy.

"Tabitha and Logan are waiting in the study with Charles, so why dont we go join them. Hank will bring Lance and Todd."

"Okay," Fred nodded. Pietro didnt trust himself to speak just yet, and was focused intently on not giving the woman death glares.

The two followed her as she led them to the study.

* * *

"Do you know whats happening with Lance?" Tabitha questioned, looking at Logan.

"A little."

"You could not be any less helpful," Tabitha grumbled as she turned from him.

"Youll hear it soon. Just relax, kid."

"You have to know something."

"Youll find out when we get to Charles. I dont know much either, so youre just going to have to wait."

"Come on, at least-" Tabitha stopped short, her eyes on something ahead.

Logan noticed the sudden break in speech as well as the brake in stride and looked at the subject of her attention. Rogue, Kitty, and Evan were standing by Kurts room, all in their casual civilian clothing- probably waiting for the Elf to go down to breakfast together.

But Tabithas cold glare was directed to one person. More specifically, Rogue.

Now Logan knew that after Tabitha had joined the Brotherhood and left the X- Men, she had not been on such friendly terms with the students at the Institution. But from what he gathered from the talk around the mansion, she was okay with them, considering everything.

But the look she was giving Rogue now was indescribable. Logan had not even known that the girl was capable of such deep... hatred. There was no other way to describe it. It was pure hatred.

* * *

Tabitha stood there in silence, not moving an inch until the four had been joined by Kurt, and unknowing of either Logan or Tabithas presence, left for the dining room. The change in the atmosphere around her was so severe that even Logan didnt ask anything as they resumed the walk and entered the study.

Professor Xavier joined them in a few minutes, followed by Ororo, Fred, and Pietro. Tabitha had calmed, returning to her usual no-worries self, and shared a brief conversation with the boys before Lance and Todd came in with Hank.

* * *

"So, whats going on," Lance spoke, looking at Xavier as he and Todd sat down next to Tabitha, Pietro, and Fred.

"I thought it might be a good idea to discuss your stay here," Professor X answered. When looks of alarm rushed over the five teens, he quickly elaborated. "I just mean to tell you about the schedule and how things go here."

The teens merely nodded, their alarm subsiding but not fully gone.

"In the morning and evening we have training sessions. Now obviously Lance will not be able to participate due to his broken leg, but I would like for the rest of you to."

"Theyre not going without me."

Professor X looked at Lance, but waited as the teen continued.

"We all go or none of us goes- especially not to the Danger Room. Ive been there, I know what its like."

Noting the change in the teen, Charles spoke reassuringly but rationally, to convince rather than to enforce.

"It wont be the difficult levels, and I think teamwork would be a good way of building better relationships."

Lance started to argue again, getting angry, but remembering that, since he was in their house, and he was the one receiving help, it might be better to keep his temper in check, he calmed himself down. Still, he was not about to let this go- the training was in a place called the Danger Room, for crying out loud.

"Then Im going too."

"No you arent," Tabitha inserted, drawing the attention on her. But she was only looking at Lance. "Youre just going to make your leg heal slower. Its all right, Ive been there before too, remember? And more times than you."

"We can handle it," Fred said.

"Yeah, well be fine, yo. Besides, it cant be any worse than ticked off Mystique," Todd added.

"Whatever they can do, we can do," Pietro said, in a slightly agitated tone. "And better."

Lance started to argue, but Tabitha cut him off before he could even start.

"Dont start. Youre wasting your time, you know well win this."

Lance sighed, and raised his hands in front of him. "Fine," he replied, then turned to four adults, "But Im watching from the control room."

"That will be fine," Charles replied. "Now why dont we all go to breakfast, you can get used to things slowly."

* * *

"Could you be any more obvious," Lance nudged Pietro, pitching his voice low. "Pietro, just ignore him for a while."

Pietro turned from the action of glaring daggers at Evan to look at Lance.

"Im not doing anything," he protested. "Besides, hes glaring at me too."

"Thats not even a good excuse. Look, seriously, you dont have to stay here if you dont want to. Take everyone and go home. Ill get out in a few days."

"Youre obsessing, Lancey," Tabitha interjected from Lances right.

Pietro nodded in agreement. "Besides, they might corrupt you again, and then itll just get crazy."

"It cant get any crazier than this," Lance replied, but changed the subject. "Just lay off him for a while, Tro. Same goes for you with Rogue, Tabby."

"Please, like Id waste my time with her for anything."

"Then explain your glares. Seriously, your looks are even beyond Mystiques, and Im talking about when shes pissed off. Whats up with you and her? I mean, Pietro and Daniels I expect."

"Hmph," Tabitha turned back to her toast, but shot Rogue another glare.

Lance mentally groaned at the two teens on each of his side as they continued to glare at their targets, albeit with less frequency. Oh well. At least they were trying to hold off. What Lance didnt get was Tabithas glaring at Rogue. From what he could remember, Rogue and Tabitha had never been the fierce enemies Evan and Pietro were. Or rivals. Whatever the two boys were. He mentally noted to keep a closer eye on the matter.

* * *

Logan glanced at the Brotherhood members meaningfully, motioning for the three adults to look over. They did so, as inconspicuously as possible, but did not see what he was getting at.

_Look at Boom Boom.  
_Logan said after Professor X had provided a mental link between them; at the same time making sure Jean wouldnt accidentally catch any of the projected thoughts.

Ororo, Hank, and Charles finally realized the reason for Logans concern- Tabitha looked like she wanted to really do some damage on... Rogue? Ororo stopped, but it definitely seemed like Tabitha was glaring at Rogue.

_I thought Evan and Pietro were the only ones wed have to worry about. Well, besides Scott and Lance, but I think theyll be better off. Whats between Tabitha and Rogue?_ Hank asked as they shifted their attention back to each other.

_Dont know. But thats not the worst. When I was taking her to the study this morning, she had a different look. And it was nothing like this. Quicksilver and Spyke might have something like rivalry going on, maybe, but whatever Boom Boom has against Rogue is serious. But what I dont get is that Stripes isnt reacting._

Ororo nodded to Logan.  
_It doesnt seem like she is even aware of this. But what would have Tabitha act this way?  
_She couldnt remember any particular fights, or anything at all in fact, that gave grounds for this when Tabitha had been with them.

_Chuck, maybe youd better talk to her, figure out whats going on. _

I will. I think it might be better to let it go for now, however. Well be talking to them when Hanks test results come out, it can wait until then. 

Logan looked at the girl.  
_Better keep an eye on her. Im telling you, what I saw wasnt some teenage fight._

* * *

"Lance, wait up!"

"Oh man," Lance stopped and looked at his friends when he heard the voice. "Tell me its not Kitty."

"Its not Kitty," Todd said.

Lance sighed in relief, but the younger boy wasnt finished.

"Well, it is, but you said to tell you it wasnt, so..."

"Shut up Toad," Pietro whispered as they turned at hearing the footsteps nearing.

They were faced with not only Kitty, but also Rogue.

"Hey Pretty Kitty," Lance attempted a weak smile. He had managed to avoid the girl entirely during breakfast, and had made his escape by leaving earlier than the X-Geeks (the added factor of keeping Pietro away from Evan also made the early leave necessary), and had nearly reached their rooms. Why did it have to fail now, when he was so close?

"Lance, we have to talk."

"We do?" Lance mentally braced himself for whatever was coming.

"Yes," Kitty replied, taking him by the hand and stepping away from the group. They stepped back accordingly, though only a little for the Brotherhood.

"I, like, tried to talk to you yesterday, but you were sleeping and I didnt want to bother you. And youve like, totally been avoiding me all morning. Lance, are you all right? What happened to you? And no lying," Kitty fixed her eyes on Lances.

Lance looked away. "Im sorry I never showed up."

"Not that! I dont care about that, Lance! I just want to know what happened. Are you hurt? You look so pale..."

A quick flinch passed Lances face at the shout, almost too fast for Kitty to notice.

"I was worried, Lance. Im worried right now. I got really mad when you didnt come, but I was more worried. I knew you wouldnt do anything like that on purpose, and I didnt know what happened to you. Earlier I called once, but Pietro got the phone, and he told me you went to work and probably got delayed a little and was on the way... and after that I got too angry to call. Plus everyone was like, totally following me around, and not just Scott and Evan and Kurt, but Mr. Logan and Jean and the New Recruits too. I couldnt do anything! But I didnt think anything serious had happened. Are you okay, Lance?"

Lances eyes softened at the words. "Im sorry I made you worry."

"What happened to you?"

"...I dont know. I really dont. McCoy ran some tests on me, and he said he should be able to tell me by this afternoon."

"What about your headaches? And how badly hurt are you? I saw the news; I didnt know you could do something as big as that..."

"My headaches are okay. And I didnt get hurt too bad," Lance hesitated, but finally added. "Just a broken leg."

Kittys eyes widened. "Your leg is-"

Lance put a hand to her lips. "Dont tell. Only you and the guys know. Well, and Beast, Xavier, Storm, and Wolverine. But I cant help that."

"Shouldnt you be wearing a cast?" Kitty said as he moved his hand away, her voice lowered. "And have, like, crutches or something?"

"I am. And its not that bad, I can get by, really," Lance paused, seeing the Brotherhood and Rogue behind her. He wanted to keep talking to Kitty, now that it seemed pretty certain she wasnt mad at him, but the situation behind them looked urgent. "Kitty, Ill tell you what McCoy finds out later; maybe after lunch or something? Im not trying to avoid you; I think Tabbys going to blow something up- particularly Rogue."

"What?" Kitty turned and saw that indeed, Tabitha did look like she wanted to throw a couple of bombs at Rogue, or something similar to the idea. Rogue seemed perplexed, but was half returning the glares. The boys were just as confused, and seemed to be more or less stopped in their tracks.

"Youre right. Lance," Kitty stopped him as he moved towards the group.

Lance turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Promise me youll tell me..."

"I will. And I owe you a date," Lance gave her a grin before moving next to Tabitha.

"All right, weve had a little too much socializing, come on," he said, lightly pushing Tabby towards her room.

"Hey Rogue," he added, and didnt see Tabitha scowl as she went in the room, slamming the door with just enough force to convince them that she was indeed, angry.

"Whats going on between you two, yo?" Todd asked, looking at Rogue, stunned.

"Ah dont know," Rogue replied. A brief moment passed before everyone had a chance to regain her/his composure. "So, are yah really staying here?"

Pietro shrugged. "Maybe," he said stiffly.

Rogue frowned at the chill in his voice. "Ah guess it wont do any good to ask why yall are all here?"

"Didnt you get that from Xavier?" Pietro replied, refraining himself from calling Xavier Baldy for Lances sake.

"Look we all know the story, my powers are getting stronger, they were out of control, and I got hurt so Im here. Since it seems like well be here for at least a week, we have to talk," Lance spoke up, looking at Rogue, then the boys.

"We dont have anything to say to her," Pietro muttered.

"Yes we do," Fred said, and moved to the door of his room, opening it. Pietro mumbled something incoherently under his breath but obliged, walking in the room.

Todd and Fred followed him in, and Lance looked at Kitty apologetically.

"Sorry Kitty- but we have to talk to Rogue alone."

Kitty nodded. "Ill see you later. Drop by my room before you see Mr. McCoy, kay? Be careful with your leg." Giving him a quick hug and a smile, she walked out of the hall.

"Ah got it," Rogue said as Lance kept the door open for her. She closed it after her, and took a seat on the bed. Fred and Todd had taken the other bed, and Pietro was sitting on the desk. Lance took the chair and looked at everyone.

"All right. Obviously we have to talk sooner or later. Sooner seems easier, and its not like we really have anything else to do."

"Shouldnt we get Tabby?" Todd asked.

Lance paused, but shook his head. "Later."

Todd nodded, then waited for someone to say something. For a while no one did. Then Pietro finally spoke.

"Fine, Ill go first. Why the hell did you leave us," he demanded straightforward, his eyes on Rogue.

"Ah guess were not going tah waste time discussing the weather," Rogue murmured. "Ah didnt believe in what Mystique and Magneto told us. Ah still dont. Besides, it was kind of hard tah believe that were a superior race and all that when Ah cant even touch anyone. So Ah came ovah here."

"You really think any of us buys any of that crap? Destined to rule over humans, yeah right," Lance replied, anger rising at the mention of Mystique and Magneto. "As if theyd ever even give us a second look once they finished with whatever theyre doing. "

"We dont. We never did. But we thought youd stick with us," Fred said, rather quietly for someone of his size. The sadness showed through his eyes, and Rogue remembered for the first time in a long while how the Brotherhood had really been like. Who they really were; behind all the tough-guy exteriors they so loved to present. And had to- she suddenly realized.

"Ah didnt know. Ah thought yah didnt care," she said, feeling guilty at seeing the looks on their faces, especially Todd and Fred. She recalled Todd telling her that he was from an orphanage. She didnt know the details; she had rather secluded herself from them, and she didnt know about the others pasts either. Just that they all didnt have any families.

"Dont give us the pity look," Pietro spoke up, noting the change in the girls features. "We dont need it and we dont need you."

"Guys, Ah- well, Ahm sorry," she didnt know what else to say. And what could she say? Words couldnt turn time.

"Ah shouldnt have left yah guys like that. Ah am sorry for that. But Ahm not sorry Ah left. Mystiques wrong."

"We never said she was right. We dont care about Mystique. Mystique ditched us; we dont owe anything to her," Lances words took a slight sour turn as he said Mystiques name.

"So where does this leave us?" Rogue looked around at the four boys. "Do we just pick up where we left off?"

"You mean before we came here or before you left? Either way, we cant do that and you know it," Pietro replied, his voice chilly.

"Maybe we could," Todds quiet voice drew the attention on him. "I mean, its not like we really have anything against each other. Maybe we could just start over."

"Yeah, besides, were sort of on the same side now right? Even if its just for a while," Fred looked at Rogue, then Lance.

Rogue looked at Pietro and Lance. "So? What about it?"

Pietro crossed his arms, looking at her. Then he turned to Lance. "What do you think?"

Lance paused, studying Rogue. Finally, he spoke. "Why not? It wont hurt. Besides, once a Brotherhood, always a Brotherhood," he gave Rogue a slight smirk. "Lets start over, then. Nice to meet you, Roguey."

Rogue tried to frown at the usage of her old nickname, but found that she couldnt. Finally, she gave up and smiled.

"Nice tah meet yah Lance. Fred, Todd."

She stopped at Pietro, who continued to look at her skeptically.

"Aw come on Pietro."

Rolling his eyes, Pietro finally cracked a small smirk. "All right. Were starting over. But that doesnt mean youre back for good, Roguey." In a second, he was standing in front of her. "You should be grateful to be back in the presence of someone like me; people usually have to line up for that," he smirked, but it was one of playfulness rather than superiority, as he tended to simulate.

"Oh shut up before Ah realize it was stupid tah meet the biggest ego of all time," Rogue smiled.

* * *

"Rogue."

Rogue turned at the sound of her name. To her surprise, Tabitha stood by the doorway.

"Ah didnt see yah there."

"They may have forgiven you," Tabitha walked up to Rogue; close enough to literally be face-to-face, eye-to-eye. "But I will never forgive you."

Tabitha did not give Rogue a chance to respond; not that she could- Rogue was stunned at the look Tabitha had. She had never seen Tabitha like this, and the degree of emotion was actually scaring her. It was anger, hatred, loathing.

"I wont do anything because they want and need this, but stay away from them. If you hurt them again, youll regret it," with that, Tabitha left the room, leaving a stunned Rogue.

It took several minutes before Rogue could comprehend what had just happened. Since when was Tabitha so... scary? Tabitha being serious was rare, but this was just incomprehensible. Rogue actually wanted to believe that it had been Mystique in disguise, but the emotion in Tabithas eyes, her voice, the tone; it was not something Mystique could mimic. No, this was the real Tabitha, a part of her Rogue had never even known existed, or would have ever thought existed, much less seen. As soon as she somewhat understood what had just happened, Rogue left the room in search of the adult X-Men.


	18. Chapter 18 Reasons to live

**Chapter 18. Reasons to Live.**

"What?"

Lance stared at the big furry man in front of him. "What?" he could only repeat.

"We're not sure how, and were not sure why, but your powers are somehow causing a chemical imbalance in your brain, as well as other side effects," Hank repeated, hoping he sounded better than he felt.

"What does that mean."

"You may experience anything from headaches, nausea, blurred vision, numbness, or mood disorders such as depression."

Lance nodded, vaguely hearing the explanation.

Hank attempted a weak smile. "But in your case, it seems to be more physical, since you don't seem to have experienced any depression or mood changes. Have you before this?"

Lance shook his head. He wondered how his brain was getting all this and actually responding.

"Lance, do you understand this?"

"Yeah... how bad is it?"

"There is very little detail known about chemical imbalances as of the moment, and even without taking your powers into consideration, I have to say, this is not a small problem."

"Adding my powers to that?"

"Quite frankly- we have no idea," Hank tried to look optimistic. "So, Lance, have you had any of these symptoms besides headaches?"

Lance hesitated, but finally nodded. "Sometimes I can't see clearly, or I can't really tell where things are... What am I supposed to do now? I mean, whats the worst that can happen?"

Hank looked at the eighteen-year-old, hesitating.  
"We really don't know. This leads to new possibilities, and we don't know just how much of your brain is affected by your powers. We're not even entirely sure that's the reason. But it seems to be, since your collapse was triggered by over-using your powers. This never happened before, right?"

"Well, except one time. The first time my powers emerged. Yeah, something like this happened then too, though it was on a way smaller scale. But I don't remember too much of it, I was out most of the time when it happened."

"So it is very likely this is all connected to your powers. I really don't know how or why, but everything seems to lead to that."

"Whats the worst case scenario?"

"We dont know enough to..."

"There has to be something."

Hank looked at the teen, and was surprised to see the look in his eyes. Sitting there was not Lance the hot-tempered teenager, but an older, more mature young man. Hank's thoughts went back to the morning, when he had seen Lance with the exact same look, even right after getting up. Going to that, he remembered wondering why Lance was sitting beside Todd's bed, not in his own bed, but he had been too busy to dwell on it. He did recall now, though, that Charles had told them of a strong wave of emotions from Todd during the night, so he suspected that must have had something to do with it. Charles had not wanted to look into it further, because it had become very evident in the way Lance reacted to them that the teen was trying to avoid Charles as much as possible without making it too obvious, though it was still Lance that had done most of the talking to them. It would do no good to push him further away by prying into things he clearly wanted left alone.

Coming back to the present, Hank found himself face to face with the brown- haired young man sitting across him, his dark brown eyes studying him. He sighed before speaking.

"In the worst, your powers could seriously damage your brain. But that's the worst of the worst. We can't possibly make any real speculations until we know more about this."

"Serious damage?"

Hank sighed. "Yes, severe damage to your brain."

"So..." Lance drew a blank. He didn't understand what this was leading to, what Hank meant.

"For example, you may lose control over your body."

"I'd be paralyzed?" Lance drew in a sharp breath, his eyes widening.

"It is a possibility. And another possibility is that you might lose control over your involuntary bodily functions," Hank explained. "But this is the most extreme case, there's very little chance of that, if at all. There's no reason for concern."

"Involuntary bodily functions..." Lances wide eyes dimmed, then suddenly flashed and he looked at Hank, jerking up from his seat. "Stuff like breathing? Is that it? I'd..." he couldn't finish.

"It is the worst-case scenario, and there's hardly any possibility that it will happen," now Hank really regretted telling him. "It's only a minuscule possibility, there is also the possibility that nothing serious will happen, and with medication, this will simply pass for you."

Lance fell back into the chair. "But... dying?" he managed to rasp.

"It is highly unlikely that will happen, Lance; we're just theorizing here. You have to look at the positive possibilities as well," Hank reassured.

Lance couldn't reply, completely still for a moment. Then, the disbelieving look of shock disappeared, replaced with one of resigned acceptance.  
"If there is a worst-case scenario, that's what's going to happen. Trust me, it's always been that way in my life. How long until something big happens? I mean, something really big, something serious."

Hank was both surprised and deeply disheartened at the brittle coldness in his voice. It wasnt even angry or bitter, something Hank might have expected. No, it was completely devoid of emotion, empty, as his eyes were.  
"Now you have to look at this from all sides, as I've told you that is the worst that could ever happen in theory, but its unlikely to happen in reality. And there are more positive probabilities than are negative, you must look at all the sides to this, Lance."

Lance shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. And I think I know my life a little better than you do. So this... brain damage thing I have, what's going to happen to me if I use my powers?"

"We can't be sure, but we can guess that it'll speed up the currently present actions or possibly trigger new reactions."

"If I don't use my powers- will it go away?"

"I'm afraid not."

"So not using my powers- it's just going to slow it down?"

"Lance, you have to realize, we're just speculating here, I'll need to do some more check ups on you and get some help from an expert in order for us to know anything for certain."

Lance nodded, but it was just to satisfy Hank, and the man could tell. "So you don't know how much slower it'll be."

"We don't know anything for sure."

Lance got up. "All right, I get it," he said, and looked at Hank, expressionless. "Do you want to do anything or can I go?"

Hank looked at Lance, worry evident on his face. "Lance, you do understand that it was just a speculation? It's highly unlikely to happen."

"Yeah, whatever, I get it."

Hank sighed. There was no use; Lances face remained the same, completely devoid of feeling.

"Do you want me to stay here?"

"No, we'll run a couple more tests in the evening, unless you want them done now," Hank replied. He actually would rather they did it now, but he didn't think it would be such a great idea to keep Lance in there for much longer. And he wasn't sure if he could give any better news to help the teen after he ran the tests.

Lance shook his head and turned to the door. He was briefly deterred by Hanks voice.

"Lance? You don't have to worry about this, just stay positive. There are a lot of different sides to this."

Lance faintly nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Dr. Hank McCoy collapsed back into his seat, one hand on his forehead.

_Charles, things didnt go too well._

* * *

Lance walked down the rather quiet hallway, and was glad most of the X- Geeks were outside in some game. Mutant dodge ball, or something like that; he had overheard some of the talk as the New Recruits were leaving the building.

He felt strangely okay.  
Sure, a part of him wanted to panic, to shout, to yell.  
But the rest of him was unnaturally serene.  
It was almost as if he had expected this. Had he? Of course not, why would he anticipate his own death? But it was true he had been expecting something big. Well, dying was pretty much the biggest thing he could get, wasnt it.

Still, while the initial reaction had been shock, Lance was calm now, even apathetic. His only concern was what was going to happen now. It wasn't like he knew exactly when he was going to die, just that he was.  
Well, everyone died someday. At least he knew from what he would die of and that it was in the near future. Unless of course, he died for some other reason before that; but he didn't really have the patience or the strength to think about that right now.

As he neared the guest dorm halls, he found his thoughts wandering over to the Brotherhood, as they tended to do, though right now, he was trying not to think about them.  
It didn't work. He thought about them.  
And as soon as he did, the wave of panic rushed over him once more. What was he going to tell them? What was he going to say? Then, the biggest question forced its way into his mind, the one he had been trying to keep out all along.  
What would happen to them after he died?

Suddenly, he was panicking all over again.

None of the Brotherhood had jobs besides Lance himself, and thus, no income. And would they even bother going to school everyday if he didn't half-force them to each morning? Lance himself was close to dropping out; the only reason he continued to go was because of the fact that some of his jobs required him to, and more importantly, because otherwise the rest of the Brotherhood might just decide to drop out too. Once he was gone, would they even bother to go to school? A place filled with people that hated them, thought they were worthless hoods that would never amount to anything- to endure that each day? And that wasn't even taking into consideration the physical abuse they had to deal with, though it was mostly Todd that got bullied around.  
With him gone, who would take care of the money; pay the bills? Lance remembered the short period of time he had stayed with the X-Men before, and returning to a lot of chaos in the Brotherhood house. And that had been less than a week, just a few days.  
No, he wouldn't let that happen this time. He wouldn't let anything, anyone, fail because of him.  
Lance was going to have to make sure everything was taken care of before... well before he died.  
What a weird thought.  
But pushing that aside, he made a mental list for himself- get Tabitha and Pietro jobs, teach Pietro to pay the bills, Tabitha to fix the heater and take care of the water, buy Fred some more cooking books... Lance froze. Todd. What was he going to do?  
Thoughts, ideas, and possibilities clashed against each other as Lance struggled to think of a way to break this to the young boy.  
None came.

Finally, Lance gave up.  
He would have to hold off on that for a while- it wasnt like McCoy would let him say anything before a few more test results came in anyhow. Lance would just have to get Pietro, Tabitha, and Fred to fill in as much as he could without making it blatantly obvious from now on. Tabitha was pretty good with comforting others, relatively, and Fred was okay as long as it was Todd. Pietro was not so good at comforting people, but he cared, and that was what mattered.

He would have to make sure Fred and Todd were okay around people as well, without Lance around. Pietro and Tabitha weren't going to be able to do all the looking out the three of them did by just themselves.

That and do something about everyones nightmares.

Plus make sure Pietro didn't get himself into too much trouble, and possibly get him to actually try in the academic area- Pietro hardly spent more than five minutes on anything, and due to his powers, this actually worked for him. But despite the fact that he could learn materials many times faster than the average, Pietro plainly refused to try further than the basics unless he was specifically interested in the topic. Once, for example, Pietro had taught himself Spanish in a matter of weeks, and was now fluent in it, as well as German, though he didn't like to speak the latter as much, after Nightcrawlers acquaintance. Lance was really going to have to do something about Pietro's intense hatred of the X-Men, and anything even remotely related to them.

That and figure out what was going on with Tabitha and why she was so furious at Rogue; the southern girl didnt seem to know either. But though he trusted Rogue, much more than the other X-Geeks, with the exception of Kitty, he still wasn't quite sure of her; too much had happened for them to just go back to the way things were before. Much had been lost, and whatever common ground they had had before had been lost and forgotten. In short, Rogue was, and would always be, an X-Man. But still, she was a Brotherhood too, in a way. The only other member with mixed affiliations, or past affiliations anyhow, was Tabby. But she was different. Tabby was completely Brotherhood. She didn't really care for any of the X-Men beyond the acquaintance level, maybe with the exception of some fondness for the New Recruits; but to the Brotherhood, the New Recruits werent really X-Men anyhow, not all the way, just half-way, so it didn't matter. They never really dealt with the New Recruits, so they didn't really care for them either way. Tabitha was friends with Amara though, and thought better of Nightcrawler than the rest of the Brotherhood. Still, it wasn't the same as the situation with Rogue.

Lance knew that, if things came to test, Rogue would choose the X-Men over them, no doubt about it. But he had a feeling Tabitha would choose them. No, he was certain she would choose them. After all, why else hadn't she left them yet? Things certainly hadn't been good at the Boarding house; a working phone system had been something of a challenge lately, especially while trying to keep the electricity and gas going, as well as running water. And face it; the X-Geeks had a freaking mansion, for crying out loud. She didn't leave though, or even mention it, not even as a joke, not once. A smile crept up on Lance as he remembered a certain incident.

* * *

Once Pietro had been teasing her, asking her when she was going to go back to the X-Men. The joke had been abruptly cut off when Tabitha gave him her characteristic shrug, only it wasnt her usual who knows, who cares shrug, it had been different somehow... definite. And serious. Which had been, well, weird.

"I'm not."

Pietro had, for once, been at a loss as to what to say, but the silence only lasted a brief moment as Pietro went on to talk about other matters, as did Tabitha, and Todd and Fred.

But later that night, when Lance had been going over a few bills, Tabitha had come downstairs to the kitchen for a drink, and Lance had asked her again.

"When are you going back to them?"

He hadn't said, when are you leaving, as one might have.

To Lance, it had been a simple question; he had never expected Tabitha to stay around long, maybe just until whatever had happened with the X-Geeks and her passed. But Tabitha had turned to him with an expression he could not understand. It was so... unlike Tabitha; too serious. Even offended.

"I'm not," she repeated her answer from the afternoon.

Lance had been taken aback by the plain truth in her voice, but the still skeptical part of him looked at her, and tossed the statement out into the playing field- as clear as she had been in her answer, and as matter-of- fact in its approach.

"You're not going to stay here forever."

Tabitha gave him her patented grin as she took a drink from the water bottle, and then tossed it back in the fridge.

"No. I'm not."

Grabbing a granola bar from a pile of random food products on one side of the counter, she headed out the kitchen; and just when Lance was turning back to the bills, thinking that she wasn't going to say anything more on the subject, she glanced back for a second.

"Just as long as you guys are here."

And she left, not seeing the amazed expression crossing Lances face, nor the smile afterwards, as the earth shaker heard the complaints of Todd as Tabitha barged into the bathroom a moment later.

"I'm taking a shower yo!"

"I never thought that I'd hear that from you, Toddy! I'm out of mouthwash."

"Could you be any louder?"

After Pietros shout joined the two, there was a small explosion in the bathroom, and five minutes later, a still somewhat wet but fully dressed Todd had engaged the bomb-wielder in a duel of pillows. They were enthusiastically joined by the speedster and the immovable teen that occupied the other rooms of the house, and Lance smiled as he heard the battle of pillows intensify, until the pillow fight became an all out pillow war. That is, until the sound ceased all at once. When everything remained still for a full minute, Lance had gotten worried and started up the stairs, only to be bombarded by pillows. "You are so dead!" And the four teens atop the stairs had managed to grab their weapons again, through fits of laughter.

* * *

Lance smiled. That was pretty regular in the Brotherhood house. Add a few water fights, food fights, its my turn for the remote control fights, the bathroom fights between Tabitha and Pietro, a couple random fights, and some school fights, and a truckload of pranks, you would have the Brotherhood schedule. No, add a dozen truckloads of pranks, and toss a couple more in for Pietro's part, and then you would have the Brotherhood schedule. Pietro successfully accomplished more pranks in one day than anyone could ever imagine. Well, anyone outside the Brotherhood, anyhow.

Pietro was a whole different situation from Tabitha. While he was often like Lance's right, being the second-in-command in the Brotherhood ever since Mystique disappeared, things had turned a little different since Tabithas unofficial but still just as important initiation into the Brotherhood. Usually, things were about the same as before, albeit more pranks and the newly created bathroom wars between the speed demon and the bomb-wielder, and discoveries by the other three members of the Brotherhood of ways to prevent this and not get caught in the crossfire. But when things got a little too chaotic or there was a more serious fight than the norm at school, or even with the X-Geeks, Pietro lost control, and his temper was almost as bad as Lance's was. But while Lance, when things went wrong at school or in a battle with the X-Geeks, even after losing his cool, managed to keep a level of calmness about him, unconsciously holding him back from doing serious damage, as his powers might, in a fight, and maintaining some kind of rational thought; Pietro did not. And at these times, it was not Pietro that was second in command, but Tabitha. There was something distinctly different in the teen when she was serious. You knew when she was serious; it was impossible to miss. And in this, she and Pietro were opposites. Tabitha turned like steel in the strongest fires, and in the fiercest heats of things, she had a level head. Pietro fought fire with fire. Of course, it was usually the other way around as the two worked together, along with Todd and Fred, to achieve their most important goal of the day- pulling a better prank on Duncan Matthews, the jocks, the X-Geeks, or Kelly, than they had the day before. Tabitha being her carefree, and frankly, careless self; Todd the joker and adding much humor to their duties; Fred with his great capacity to not only consume edibles, but aid in the pranks with his strength; Pietro the egotist with slight perfectionist inclinations- just in that he at times, would obsess over the details of things.  
Okay, most of the times.  
Okay, all the time, and on every single little detail.  
Pietro refused to allow any holes in his plan, such as the plan to ambush Kelly's car with pink paint. He wanted everything to be smooth, completely loophole free and as perfect as he was, to quote the speedster himself. But this made him a great thinker. That is when Pietro wanted to be. Usually, he didn't. Pietro didn't care for school, or of grades; the main reason he went to school was because Lance made him, and to pull pranks on people while he was there.  
It wasn't that he wasn't smart, obviously.  
He simply never felt any reasons to try hard, and besides, nothing really presented itself as a challenge to the silver-haired boy.  
So he felt no need to try.

Challenges.  
There was one word Todd Tolensky was well familiar with.  
The little guy had had a rough life.  
Lance didn't blame him for being afraid of the dark, or being so nervous. He was afraid of a lot of other things besides that, including the X-Men, especially the adults, and more specifically, Wolverine. But Todd didn't let this fears get in his way; he really strived to be rid of them, or to simply be able to control them.  
And despite all the crap he had dealt with, Todd was a good kid.  
Generally friendly and willing to try to be friends with everyone.  
He was one of the major reasons the Brotherhood found the will to keep going, to keep fighting back when life threw rocks at them.  
None of the Brotherhood had pretty pasts, but Todd was the only one that was optimistic enough to keep them going at their hardest times.  
Maybe that was why they were so protective for the youngest teen of the family. He was their little brother, the youngest brother.  
Lance had no doubts that each of the Brotherhood had a special desire to protect the little guy, in their own ways. Even Fred, who was closest to Todd and his best friend, had the defensive older brother streak in him, something he only showed in matters concerning Todd.

Fred was an entirely different story all together.  
As it was with the rest of the Brotherhood, Fred Dukes had that tough guy exterior around him. It was their first line of defense, and also useful in keeping people away from them.  
But with Fred, things were different.  
Fred wanted to be accepted by them. His fear that the public would never accept him was the only thing that held him back. He was too scared to try, too afraid of being rejected. Freds fear of rejection was as strong as Todds fear of abandonment.  
But while Todd was less successful in his tough-guy exterior, Fred was quite adept at the facade. Underneath it however, just underneath the thin wall, Fred was the weakest, the most vulnerable. The Brotherhood knew and understood this and defended Fred against it. Sometimes even Fred would have those sleepless nights; the entire Brotherhood was cursed with them. And then Fred and Lance mostly spent the night talking, or just being in the same room together, both aware of the others presence and pacified by it.  
Fred was sensitive, despite appearances, and probably the easiest one to hurt, at least emotionally. And without the Brotherhood, without them to accept him for him, and to respect him as he was, Fred Dukes would break.

The question was, would he break if it was only one member of the Brotherhood that was gone? Would Todd?  
Would Pietro and Tabitha?  
Lance needed Pietro and Tabitha to be strong, to be extra strong for Todd and Fred. But what if they didn't want to be?  
Pietro, despite the fact that he loved being in the lead, was loath to be forced into anything, and Tabitha didn't want to deal with things unless she absolutely had to, and it seemed that Lance and Pietro needed the help.  
Would they be able to hold their ground if he wasnt there?  
Would they be able to get past their own problems, and at the same time help each other with theirs?  
Their own problems were more than enough; what would happen?

Lances thoughts swirled, dragging him into a deep abyss. One theme played over and over again in his mind.  
He had to make sure everything would be all right before anything happened.

And he would.


	19. Chapter 19 Study in Psychology

**Chapter 19. Study in Psychology.**

Lance ran his free hand through his hair, trying to shake off the immense feeling of confusion around him. There was too much to do, and he didnt even know how much time he had.  
As he approached the hall with his room, he let out a sigh, trying to calm down. It would do no good to look anxious in front of them; it would just make them worry, and they were already worrying more than they should. Besides he had finally gotten them to be more or relaxed- everyone had been in Pietro and Fred's room, just talking, when he had left to go to the infirmary to talk to Beast.  
He was not about to have them all nervous and worried again.

"Hey Rocky."

Lance turned at the voice, unconsciously stepping back, and moving his hand off the supportive wall.  
"What?"

Logan mentally shook his head at the look in Lances eyes. This wasn't going to be easy. Why did Chuck have to ask him to talk to the kid anyhow? It wasn't like he was good with this stuff.  
But Hank was still trying to make some conclusions on Lance's test results, and Ororo was in a danger room session. And Charles had decided to help Hank out with the studies. So that left him. But really, couldn't they do better than sending him?  
He seriously doubted his skills in comforting people, especially not thickheaded kids like Avalanche, who was, in addition to all that, decidedly not comfortable even being around Logan, much less talking to him.  
"I just want to talk to ya."

Lance looked at the older man, visibly skeptical. "About what?"

"You. Charles and Hank tell me you're overreacting to your little situation."

"Do you people have any sense of confidentiality around here?"

"Don't give me any of that, I'm not good at this to begin with, you don't want to make things worse."

Lance took a step back, but didnt drop his glare. "I'm not overreacting to anything. Just leave me alone."

"You don't really think youre going to die, do you?"

"Everyone dies," Lance turned towards his room. "Being human, I'd say yeah, I do think I'm going to die. That's pretty much the idea- you're born, you live for a while, and then you die."

"Yeah, but you're not dying anytime soon."

"You don't know that."

"Neither do you."

Lance glanced back at him. "Nothing ever turns for the better in my life. If there is a worst-case scenario, that's whats going to happen. And like I said to Beast, I think I know my life better than you." With that, Lance opened the door to his room and went in, closing it before Logan could reply.

"Not depressed, yeah right," Logan murmured as he headed for the infirmary.

* * *

Lance was very glad to hear footsteps moving away; he probably shouldnt have done that, considering the fact that Logan was pretty much one of the most dangerous people he had ever met. Besides the fighting skills and the healing factor that probably made him near invincible, and his temper, the man had adamantium claws running in him. Seriously. It probably wasn't such a good idea to get him mad.

But then again, Lance really didnt care right now.

Lance fell onto his bed with a sigh.

* * *

"You could always just focus on other things, 'Tro," Fred suggested.

"Yeah, you have to stay away from Spykey," Tabitha looked at the silver- haired boy.

"I-know-I-know, I've left him alone so far, havent I?"

"And we're so proud of you," Tabitha chuckled.

"But still, Pie' what are you going to do when you're bored, yo?" Todd asked.

Pietro shrugged. "I don't know; I'll deal with it. I'm bored most of the time anyhow." He looked over at Tabitha. "So, why are you so mad at Roguey?"

"Who said I was? I don't care about her," Tabitha replied.

"Please, you were practically going Mystique on her."

"Except without the yelling," Todd supplied after Pietro.

"And the blue-skinned thing," Fred added.

"And the threats of death or worse," Pietro nodded.

"And the-"

"All right, all right, I get the idea. I just don't like her, all right? If you want to talk about the whys, whyre you and Spyke mad at each other? Didn't you used to be friends?" Tabitha shot back, looking at Pietro.

"That-is-none-of-your-business!" Pietro snapped. "Besides, Daniels is an idiot and a jerk."

"Whoa guys," Fred half got up. "Calm down. We're just on the edge about Lance, we don't need to start fighting."

"Yeah, Freddy's right yo, we all just gotta chill."

Tabitha and Pietro looked at him, then Tabitha sighed, the tension leaving her as she sat down again. "They're right. Sorry Quickie."

"We're going crazy if Blob's the voice of reason, and Toads the first to see that," Pietro sighed as he leaned further into the pillow behind his back. "No offense, Freddy, Todd."

"None taken."

* * *

"I still say this is a bad idea."

"And Ah say give them a chance. Just cause they're the Brotherhood doesnt mean they're naturally evil or something," Rogue snapped. "And if yah even think of saying people don't change, Ah'm taking mah gloves off. Ah changed, didn't Ah?"

Evan cringed at that, and mumbled an apology.

"But having danger room sessions with them does seem a little fast," Jean said. "I mean, they've only been here a day."

"More like way too fast," Evan muttered. "We could wait a century, or even just a decade."

"Professor X thinks it'll help us build trust between each other," Scott replied, giving Evan a look. But behind the ruby-quartz sunglasses, his eyes darkened at the thought. "I wouldn't trust Alvers with anything," he murmured, quieter and to himself.

"Would you stop that! You're practically the reason Lance left the first time he came here, just give him a chance!" Kitty glared at Scott.

Evan watched as Kitty left the room, leaving a very still and stunned Scott. "Harsh."

"Let's just try to verk vith zem," Kurt suggested. "Zey looked like zey vere trying."

"Yeah, you're right Kurt. They said they'd try, we should try too," Scott nodded. "Besides, the thing with Avalanche seems pretty serious, the least we could do is try to be nicer."

The X-Men nodded in agreement.


	20. Chapter 20 Trust is Hard

**Chapter 20. Trust is Hard.**

"Isn't this kind of like giving them an easy way to kill us?" Todd looked at the other members of the Brotherhood nervously.

"Nah, I've done this before, it's not that bad," Lance replied.

"Yeah, don't worry, I've gone through it before too, and it's like the fights we have at home, only in a bigger room with machine parts flying around instead of Pietro's bad cooking," Tabitha agreed.

"My-cooking-is-perfectly-fine!" Pietro shot Tabitha a look. "Besides, how hard can it be if Daniels can do it?" he added with a dismissive wave of his hand, turning his attention back on Todd.

"I've been here before yo, and that was not a safe room," Todd shuddered. "I almost got fried by a laser, man, and that's to say the least of it."

"We won't let anything happen," Fred assured.

"Yeah we'll protect you, Toddy," Tabitha gave him a grin of reassurance.

"And I'll shut the whole thing down if it gets dangerous," Lance said, pitching his voice slightly lower and quieter, yet no less comforting, as they reached the Danger Room.

"Look who's waiting, how nice," Pietro muttered at the sight of the older X- Men standing outside the Danger Room. "I know, I'll play nice," he added, looking at Lance and Tabitha.

They came to a stop a few feet in front of the X-Men, and Lance noticed that only two of the adults were there- Storm and Xavier.

"Thank you for coming promptly," Xavier looked at them.

"Who's going to be in the control room?" Lance questioned.

"Logan is already there, you can go join him."

Xavier barely caught the flinch passing Lance's features before the teen nodded.

"We don't have to prove anything to them; don't get too obsessive about Daniels, okay?" Lance murmured, his voice lowered so only the Brotherhood could hear him. He looked at Pietro as he said the last part.

"I get it already. You guys don't have to remind me every damn second," arms crossed, Pietro rolled his eyes.

"It'd be way more convincing if you weren't glaring at him right before you said that," Lance replied, then gave Todd a reassuring smile. "I'll be watching out for you, don't worry," he gave Fred and Tabitha a last nod before leaving for the control room.

"So, what're we doing?" Tabitha looked at the X-Men.

"Just one of the basic sims. You will be grouped into two teams. The first team will be Scott, Kurt, Kitty, Tabitha, and Todd. The second will be Jean, Rogue, Evan, Pietro, and Fred."

"Wait, it's going to be mixed?" Pietro turned from Evan to Xavier.

"Of course Pietro. The main point of this exercise is to build trust between each other," Xavier nodded.

"And we're okay with that," Tabitha said, giving Pietro a look.

"Yeah, whatever," Pietro grumbled, shooting Evan a glare.

Evan returned it, though at seeing this, Kurt nudged the skateboarder in the side.

"Well, that's it. Good luck to both teams," Xavier smiled as the doors opened.

"We don't need your luck," Pietro murmured, but on his part, he didn't say it loudly. Fred nudged him lightly as they walked in after Tabitha and Todd.

"I'll watch out for Todd; you guys be careful, okay?" Tabitha said, looking at the two boys.

They nodded and the Brotherhood separated, moving to their own assigned groups.

"Okay, so the objective is to get to that," Scott pointed to a raised platform across the room. "Before they do. You can use your powers all you want, as long as it's not to directly hurt anyone."

"Got it," Tabitha replied, guessing that the explanation was for her and Todd, since Kurt and Kitty seemed well aware of this.

* * *

Lance cautiously opened the door, silently hoping that maybe Beast and Wolverine had switched last minute. Then again, he wouldn't be so happy to run into him either. Too bad it couldn't have been Storm. Then again, seeing as how she hadn't tried to talk to him before, if it was Storm, she'd probably try now. So, whoever it was, the circumstances would be similar. Then again, neither Beast nor Storm had adamantium claws and a temper to match.

Logan turned as the door slowly opened, having expected it. He watched as Lance stepped inside, keeping to the wall- both because he needed the extra support, and to keep distance between them, Logan assumed. "Come over here," he nodded towards the chair, and then turned back, returning his attention to the Danger Room.

Lance hesitated, but moved away from the wall and made his way to the chair, careful to go around Logan yet not make it blatantly obvious.

"What level sim is it going to be?" he questioned, testing the waters.

"Not too hard," Logan glanced at the younger mutant. "Give the act a rest, Shakedown. I can tell you right now, it's not working."

Lance scowled, but didn't reply, turning to the windows to watch the Danger Room.

"You're not going to die, did you get that through your head yet?"

Lance didn't move; his eyes glued to the scene as he watched the two teams split up and talk amongst themselves.

"You're not," Logan repeated, his tone indicating that Lance had better respond this time.

"I'm trying to pay attention here, do you mind?" Lance mumbled, still not looking at the man. "Why're they split up," he murmured, to himself this time. "At least Tabby's with Todd..." he continued, surveying the situation. "And Pietro's not going to try to maim Daniels...hopefully..."

"When are you going to get what I'm saying through that thick head of yours?" Logan frowned as Lance attempted to ignore his presence, his voice illustrating his displeasure. "Look at me when I'm talking to ya."

Reluctantly, Lance turned, but not without a scowl. "What?"

"Don't pretend you can't hear me. Things aren't going to go away just because you pretend they don't exist."

"Try listening to yourself. I'm going to die; you can't change that. I don't care, all right? I don't. Lay off; I've got other things to worry about," Lance turned back to the Danger Room.

"Look Rocky, I don't buy any of your indifference act, and you're not dying."

"Fine, whatever. Get off my case, it's not like you want to be talking to me," Lance replied, his voice acidic, his eyes still on the Danger Room, or rather, four people in it.

Logan turned as the door opened, and Charles entered. He shook his head, knowing that the other man would know what he meant. Turning back to the controls, he started the simulation.

* * *

"...so that's it. Evan? Pietro?" Jean looked at the two boys.

"We're fine," Pietro said, not looking away from his glare.

"Yeah, let's go," Evan added, his eyes not moving from their target as well.

Jean and Rogue sighed, and Rogue got in between the two. "Ah think Ah'll stand here."

"They're probably going to try to get Nightcrawler to port at least some of their team, so we'll have to keep him busy. Quicksilver, you'll have the most time to spare, why don't you take him. I'll take care of Boom Boom's bombs, and Spyke, you watch Shadowcat. Rogue and Blob, you guys can keep an eye on Cyclops and Toad."

They nodded to Jean's words, and though it truly took a lot to do so, Pietro refrained from commenting.

* * *

"Ok Nightcrawler, it'll be easy if you 'port some of us over, but they'll be expecting that, so be careful. Boom Boom, you can cover him. Shadowcat, Toad, and I will run interference while Kurt ports whoever is closest to him over," Scott looked at them.

Before more could be said, the sirens went off, and the simulation began.

* * *

Kurt immediately attempted to port Tabitha and himself at least halfway through the room, but was swept off his feet- literally- by a silver streak, ending up in the far right corner of the room. And in front of giant robotic tentacles that shot out from the wall.

"Nice try, Fur-face" Pietro smirked. "But you're too slow! Actually, it wasn't that great a try either, but we'll commend the effort, however unsuccessful it was," he sped back towards the others, delayed only for a minute in dodging an optic blast from Scott.

"Too-slow-Summers!"

* * *

Ducking out of the way of an array of spikes Evan threw towards her, Tabitha returned the gifts with her own bombs.

"Boom Boom, you lost Nightcrawler!" Scott shouted while blasting one of the machines behind Kitty.

"Well I can't help it if Pietro's faster than me! He'll 'port back!" she snapped, and spared a glance over towards the boy, who was teleporting around to avoid the attacks of tentacles from the wall. But having faith in him and also not having the leisure of taking her attention away from her situation for long, she turned again. She was running next to Todd, the two effectively blasting and sliming the machines that headed for them.

"See Toddy, it's not that bad!" Tabitha said as she threw a few bombs towards Jean as the red head attempted to telekinetically stop them.

"Yeah, if you don't count all the stuff flying at us, yo!" Todd answered as he dodged a blast, and jumping aside, slimed another laser-firing device.

* * *

"I'm going to go help Kurt out!" Kitty shouted over to Scott as she phased through a tentacle, making it crash into the floor after shorting out.

Scott's response was stalled as Pietro started running around him, building up a tornado.

"Quicksilver!" he shouted, and attempted a blast at the ground in front of Pietro as a distraction, but it went wide and headed straight for an unknowing Rogue across the room, who was busy fighting off a metal tentacle after having borrowed a little of Jean's powers.

"Rogue!"

Jean had also seen the misfired shot, and tried to create a shield around the girl, but was knocked to the side by a tentacle herself.

Rogue turned at hearing her name, too late to react. But just before the blast could hit her, a tall figure moved in front of her, blocking it.

Rogue's eyes widened as she realized who it was.

Fred only gave her a shy grin as he turned back to look at her. "Better start than before?"

Rogue's surprised look softened to a smile.

"Thanks Fred."

* * *

Evan fired a barrage of spikes at the tentacle going towards Jean, just as he stepped onto the platform, reaching the goal point. Tabitha and Todd had surprisingly been the first ones to reach it, having made it across around the time Pietro was 'strategically distracting' Scott. They had been followed by Pietro, and then Kitty, who had been dropped off, courtesy of Kurt's teleportation. Just after her, Fred, Rogue, and Evan had made it in, followed closely by Jean; the simulation ended as Scott and Kurt ported in just before Jean stepped on.

"Just in time! Ve rule!" Kurt shouted as he high-fived Scott.

"Could you possibly have been any slower," Pietro looked at Jean, but redirected his look to Evan, who was next to her. "Couldn't keep up?" he smirked.

"I'll give you 'keep up'-"

"Calm down, Evan," Scott interrupted.

"This was a good session, and it was a close match," Jean added.

"Well we still beat you," Tabitha smirked, looking at Jean, and more so, Rogue. Her eyes changed, much colder, as she looked at the second girl.

"We'll see who's first tomorrow... or whenever we're supposed to do this again," Pietro put in, not as bothered as he might have been that someone had beat him because they had been Tabitha and Todd. Besides, he had taken his time, deterring the X-Geeks, especially Summers. And it wasn't like he couldn't beat them.


	21. Chapter 21 Unanimous Confusion

**Chapter 21. Unanimous Confusion.**

"We're not going!"

"You are!"

"No we're not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No we're not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No we're not!"

"Yes you are!'

"No we're not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No we're not!"

"You are going!"

At the change in tone, Tabitha and Pietro scowled but didn't shout back. Behind them, Fred and Todd looked quite nervous.

"You are going to school," Lance repeated firmly, looking at the four teens.

"We're not leaving you alone," Tabitha snapped.

"I will be fine! It's bad enough we're staying here, I will not let you miss school for nothing!"

"Since when's school so important anyhow! We ditch all the time, why shouldn't we skip when we actually need to!" Pietro yelled.

"You don't need to! You're going!" Lance's eyes hardened.

"You're going to school, and you will stay there until it's over!"

Pietro glared at Lance, the older teen meeting his challenge with a solid stare. After what seemed like ages, Pietro finally turned, scowling, and slammed the door behind him as he stormed out.

Lance looked at Fred and Todd. "Go after him," he said. After waiting as they obliged, he turned back to Tabitha, who was as stiff as he was.

"We are not leaving you here alone," Tabitha restated, her stance defiant, her fists clenched tightly.

"You're going to," Lance looked at the girl.

"You have to go to school. The guys need you."

"They have Pietro. I'll stay with you. At least one of us should stay with you, if not everyone."

"No," Lance's tone gave no room for argument.

"You're all going to school. And don't skip any classes. I'm serious, Tabitha."

A flash of surprise passed over her eyes when he didn't call her by her nickname. "Don't want to," she finally declared, crossing her arms as she gave him a dirty look.

"You're going. You're going to go to school everyday, study, do your work, and graduate! I don't want you skipping school anymore!"

Tabitha was momentarily taken off guard at the words, she hadn't expected so much. Her eyes flared up in amber fire. "Why are you doing this, Lance! What's so different all of a sudden! Do you want to be one of the X-Men! Do you want us to be X-Men! Because I'm not doing it, damn it!"

"I don't want you becoming an X-Man! And I'm not going to be one, not now, not ever! But you're not going to survive just by fooling around anymore! Take your life more seriously, damn it! Grow up Tabitha, there's more to life than partying!"

Drawing in a sharp breath, eyes wide, Tabitha took a step back, her arms falling to her sides.

Lance sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, sinking onto the bed behind him. Sighing, hands on his head, he looked at the floor for a moment before looking at Tabitha again. "Go to school, Tabby. For yourself. For the guys. For me."

* * *

"I can't believe it's Monday again. What happened to the weekend?" Evan grumbled as he walked into the kitchen.

"Ja, but on ze bright side, ve vill have Thanksgiving break soon, and zen vinter vacation," Kurt replied, cutting a piece of pancake from the stack in front of him and putting it in his mouth, along with a piece of bacon.

"Yeah, I can't wait to be on the ramps all day," Evan nodded as he reached for the milk after pouring himself some cereal. "Well, except when we have snow."

"Yah mean all day 'cept when we have snow and the times we have training sessions," Rogue replied as she joined the boys.

"Yeah, and we're like, probably going to have more than usual, too. You know how Mr. Logan is," Kitty agreed as she sat down next to Rogue, taking a plate of pancakes.

"Oh man, you're right. Man, and I thought we'd be free during the breaks," Evan groaned. "Aw man, I'm not gonna have anything to look forward to till summer, am I?"

"That is under the assumption that Logan lets us off easy during that time," Rogue answered before taking a bite of fried egg.

"Vhich he probably von't," Kurt added as he smothered his toast with jam.

"You're all out to ruin my day, aren't you," Evan grumbled.

"They're not going to be that long," Jean assured as she walked in, sitting across Evan.

Scott joined her, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, and it'll be good for us; it's a good chance to improve our skills."

"Says Scott," Evan murmured.

Scott started to reply, but stopped as a trio of figures appeared by the doorway. The three Brotherhood members silently took their seats on the other side of the table, all with different expressions on their faces.

The X-Men waited, expecting a smart comment from Pietro in the least, but when none came, they looked at each other, until Rogue got up and headed over to them. "Good morning tah yah too."

Fred and Todd glanced at her, and gave her a mandatory "Morning", before falling back into their thoughts. Pietro was too preoccupied; it didn't seem like he had even heard her. Close up, Rogue recognized the expression on his face to be one of intense anger, but also extreme confusion.

Not knowing what to do in the incomprehensible situation, Rogue stood there for a moment, then walked back to her seat.

"What is it?" Scott asked.

"Ah have no idea."

"Vhere are Boom Boom and Avalanche?"

"Ah still don't know. Ask them yerself, if y'all want."

"I will," Kitty said, but before Kitty could get up, Pietro jerked up to his feet from the other side, slamming his fists onto the table, his actions making everyone jump.

"I'm-going-to-find-out-what-this-is-about!"

Taking a split second moment to look at Fred and Todd and present the brief explanation for his actions, Pietro ran out the room. Fred nodded to Todd, and the two got up and rushed after the silver-haired boy.

"...Did anyone get that?" Jean looked around.

"Not in ze least," Kurt turned back.

"Something's wrong," Kitty got up and ran to the door, taking the shortest way possible and in doing so, phasing through a chair and the door of an open cupboard.

"Kitty!" Scott let out an exasperated sigh.

"She never learns," Evan murmured.

"Ah'm going after her. Ah want tah know what's going on too," Rogue got up and left.

"Why's everyone leaving?" Bobby asked as he entered the dining room with Sam.

"We don't know."

* * *

"Get off my case!" Lance scowled. "I already told you, I'm fine. Can I go already?"

"If you're certain," Hank sighed. "Do you need any more medicine?"

Lance pushed off the table and onto his feet, slower than he would have liked due to his leg.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"...no."

Hank smiled a little, and taking the bottle from his the desk, he shook out two capsules and handed them to him. "You can't take too many at once, especially not so frequently," he explained.

Lance took the pills, looking at them and knowing they would hardly last half an hour. He tossed them in his mouth and swallowed, and then waited to see if the older mutant wanted anything else.

"As we've discussed, you'll have to stay from school today, but that doesn't mean you have to stay in your room all day, feel free to go around the mansion. We want you to make yourself at home."

"Whatever," Lance mumbled before leaving the room.

Hank slumped back in his chair with a sigh. This was definitely a complex situation. He had to admit there were some clear difficulties and it was likely that there would be more, but for now, the hardest thing was convincing Lance that he was not going to die. So far, he had little luck. He had gotten Lance to say it, but he knew Lance didn't believe it. And the teen refused to even talk to any of the other adults, avoiding them with great caution, especially Logan.

Due to his uncertain health condition, they had all thought it might be better for Lance to stay at the mansion rather than go to school. In addition, there was a high chance that Lance would use his powers there, not to mention the fact that they still had no idea how this would develop. They really didn't know anything certain at that. Hank regretted ever telling Lance the possibilities; it had only led from bad to worse to worst. He shook his head at remembering the emptiness in Lance's eyes. When he was with anyone else, especially the rest of the Brotherhood, Lance acted normally, or as he thought he did ordinarily, but when it was just Hank and Lance, the vague flickers of life disappeared from his eyes, and remained blank.

Letting out another sigh, Hank got up and started towards the door, but before he could reach it, it slammed open.

"Tell-me-what's-wrong-with-Lance-I-know-he-knows-something-so-you-must-know- something-too-you-were-the-one-that-told-him-weren't-you-tell-me-what's- going-on-what-the-hell-is-the-matter-with-Lance-tell-me-tell-me-now!"

"...Pietro?" Hank stared at the silver-haired teen that was now drawing in deep breaths; breathes of panic and anxiety, not exhaustion, Hank realized.

"Tell-me-what's-wrong-with-Lance!"

Barely able to understand his words, Hank shook his head.

"We don't know anything yet, Pietro."

"You-have-to-know-something! Lance-knows-something! You-told-him-something- didn't-you! What-did-you-tell-him! Tell-me-damn-it-what-the-hell-is-wrong- with-him!"

"Pietro, we don't know anything for certain yet," Hank said, guessing the meaning of the ramble. He hoped he sounded as reassuring as he wanted to be.

"There's too little information. I will tell you and Lance what I know when I find out. Now you're going to be late for school, please get ready."

"Fine! If-you-won't-tell-me-either-I'll-find-out-for-myself!" Pietro shouted. "And-I'm-never-late-for-anything," he snapped before leaving the room in a blur.

"Oh boy," Hank closed the door to the infirmary as he headed for the library.

* * *

"I can't believe we actually came," Pietro murmured. "We didn't even get to find out what was going on with Lance before we left."

"We didn't have time. We'll find out after school," Fred said.

"Yeah, he'll be fine, Pie'. This is Lance we're talking about. It's not like he'd ever really be sick," Todd added.

"Well I still think one of us should have stayed, in the least," Tabitha muttered.

"More like all of us. Why does he want us to go to school anyhow? It's not like this would have been the first time we skipped," Pietro would have gone on, but Tabitha gave him a nudge as she noticed the X-Men looking at them.

"Let's just get through the day without anything. We need to stay low so we can leave the minute school's over, without any problems."

They nodded to her, their expressions a strange mixture of grim determination and anxiety.

* * *

"We have to at least try to be nice to them," Scott reminded as they got off the car. "That means no fighting with Quicksilver, Evan."

"Yeah, I got it already," Evan mumbled.

"Ah don't think he'll bother to start anything wit yah today, he was pretty out of it this morning," Rogue said, briefly glancing over at the Brotherhood.

"And I couldn't find Lance, so we like, still don't know what's going on," Kitty couldn't shake off the worry in her voice.

"I don't get what's happening to him. I mean, Jean heard everyone's thoughts and stuff when she had her power surge, but Lance isn't telepathic or anything like that, so how are his powers going faster than he is?"

"We'll have to leave that to Hank and Professor X. Don't worry Kitty, they'll figure it out," Scott supplied.

"In any case, ve should be nice. Lance must be sick or somezing, othervise ze Professor vouldn't have let him stay from school," Kurt said.

"Yeah, you're right. They do look worried, and even without looking at them, I can feel it; their shields aren't too strong when they're emotional," Jean looked at them. "But we can't just suddenly be friendly, everyone at school would think it's strange."

"You're right. Let's just act like usual, but without the fights," Scott looked at them. "And let's keep any eye out. I'll bet some people will be less than disappointed to see that Alvers isn't here," seeing Kitty's expression, he quickly rephrased his words.

"I mean that they'll try to gang up on Toad or something. Jean, keep Matthews away from Toad; we all know he and his friends sometimes beat up on him. Evan, you can keep an eye on him too. Kitty, Kurt, you guys take Quicksilver. Rogue and I will watch out for Blob and Boom Boom."

"Got it," Evan nodded, as did Jean, who was somewhat sidetracked, as she was beginning to really wonder what was going on, with all the things she was picking up.

"And we've got Pietro," Kitty confirmed, as Kurt gave them a thumbs-up.

Rogue nodded, but couldn't help casting a worried glance at the Brotherhood. She was going to figure out what was going on the moment she could get them to talk somewhere privately, that was for sure.


	22. Chapter 22 Vivir La Vida de la Brotherho...

**Chapter 22. Vivir- La Vida de la Brotherhood.**

"Damn!"

Lance slammed the receiver down, nearly breaking it due to the forceful impact.  
"Bastards."

"Mr. Logan will get mad at you if you talk like that."

Lance swerved around at the voice, immediately tense. He relaxed a bit at seeing that it was only Jamie, though not completely at ease. "Sorry," he murmured, and started towards the door. But without the aid of the wall, his walk was slow, though it looked deliberate; and he hid his annoyance at the slow pace well, if he might say so himself.

"Everyone says you're sick. Are you?"

"No," Lance mumbled, wishing that the kid would go away, or at least let him go away. His headache intensified as aggravation rose, but he quickly put it under control, managing to keep it under wraps.

"Why aren't you at school?"

"Why aren't **you** at school?" Lance shot back, not bothering to turn around.

"I'm home schooled. Mr. McCoy and Professor X tutor me. Sometimes Ms. Munroe teaches me too. Is that what youre going to do? That'd be cool. Its boring by myself."

"No."

"Then why aren't you in school right now?"

Lance rolled his eyes. 'The kid must be really bored if he wants to talk to me,' he groaned inwardly. "I didn't feel like going," he replied, and at last reached the door, more than happy to be doing so. Finally. Maybe the kid would go away now.

No such luck.

"Why not?"

Lance turned.  
"I just don't, all right? Don't you have something better to do besides this? Go study or watch TV or whatever it is you do around here."

"Mr. McCoy gave me the morning off today, so I've got no classes."

"Well then, go do something else. Watch TV. Read a book. Whatever."

"It's boring."

Rolling his eyes, Lance wondered why this kid was so hell-bent on talking to him. Even during his brief stay with the X-Men, he hadn't really ever talked to Jamie before, mostly because they rarely met, since Jamie didn't always train with the other New Recruits.

"Who were you talking to on the phone?"

"Nobody. Go find something to do," Lance started out into the hall, casually placing a hand on the wall as he did so. He paused at hearing the footsteps behind him, but ignored it and headed for his room. His headache was pounding into him now. He was going to have to make a detour and get a few more aspirins.

"You've joined us before this, havent you?"

Lance sighed and turned, raising his hands up in front of him in defeat.  
"What do you want?"

Jamie smiled.

* * *

Todd Tolensky, a.k.a. Toad, gulped as the five figures drew near. He was cornered, he and Tabitha. The blond girl had her fists clenched tightly and raised up, prepared for a fight, but without using their powers, Todd had a feeling that it would not be so easy to beat the five huge jocks in front of them, especially their leader, Duncan Matthews. Tabitha was better at fistfights than he was, sure, but she was used to using her powers and seldom resorted to physical fighting that Todd knew of. Lance was really the only one that would be able to fight off the five jocks, Lance and maybe Fred as well.

"Aw, how cute, Tolensky's got a girlfriend."

"You gonna fight for him?"

"We were never properly introduced, maybe we should do that now," Duncan smirked, cracking his knuckles.

"How about I give you boys a lesson in making proper introductions, since you seem to be incapable of it?" Tabitha pulled up closer to Todd, standing half in front of him, and half beside him.

"Ooh, a tough girl, are ya?"

"Tougher than you, big boy," Tabitha smirked.

"Lets see if you can put your money where your mouth is."

As the five antagonists stepped closer, Tabitha moved in front of Todd, drawing a fist back.

"Back off, Matthews."

The jocks turned at the new voice.

"Back off," Pietro spat.

Duncan smirked. "Oh look, another loser," he turned, looking at Pietro.  
"Where's the leader of the losers? Did even Alvers ditch you?"

Fury flashed in Pietro's clear blue eyes, and in less than a second, Duncan was floored, a blur of brown and blue passing by him, rushing the air around them. But that wasn't the only thing. Before the football player could even begin to comprehend what had happened, there was a slightly belated explosion and Duncan Matthews, was, for the second time in less than two seconds, thrown back, this time crashing none too gracefully into the wall behind him.

"Pietro!" Tabitha gasped and ran over to her friend, Todd right next to her. The launched bomb had not only thrown its target back into the wall, but the person that had been attacking him as well.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow," Pietro groaned as he got up.

Meanwhile, the resident football team had been staring at the scene.  
What had just happened?

"What's going on here?"

Both sides turned at yet another new voice, and only then did they hear the crashing footsteps of a familiar gargantuan teen, with another teen slightly behind him... wearing crimson sunglasses. Blob and Cyclops... together? Yet no matter how much they blinked, they saw the two running over, side by side.

"I didn't mean to bring him here; he followed me, and I didn't have time to lose him," Fred apologized in explanation as he reached his friends, regret and guilt visible.

Pietro, having recovered from the explosion, glared at the X-Man, taking only a second before the act to give Fred an assuring nod.  
"Get. out. of. here. Summers," he warned, his eyes glowering at the other teen, and his voice snarling unspoken threats that screamed at the other boy to stay out of the Brotherhoods business.

Cyclops didnt seem to have heard him.  
"Looks like the lights blew a fuse or something," the brown-haired boy said after taking a look around.

After giving Pietro a quick glance to make sure he was okay, Tabitha took a step towards Scott, her expression still more or less the same as usual for now, but her eyes serious and tense, as was her stance.  
"Weve got this, Scotty; go to your class."

It really wasn't a suggestion, or even an offer. Most people would have backed off at the look in her eyes, combined with the look Pietro had, not to mention Todd and Fred. But Scott Summers was not most people.  
"No, I'm not going anywhere," his eyes were on Duncan, eyes dark behind the sunglasses.

Duncan smirked.  
"Sticking up for these losers now, Summers? I've always known you were low, but I never thought you'd sink this low."

"That's it!"  
Tabitha and Pietro stalked forward, fists clenched, but Todd quickly grabbed Tabitha before she could launch a bomb, while Fred grabbed Pietro just a split second before he was out of reach.

"Tabby, get a grip, yo!"

"Pietro, calm down man!"

"Stop it Todd, I'm not kidding!"

"Let-go-let-go-let-go-let-go-let-go!"

"Come on, Tabby! Lance's gonna get mad at you guys! Don't do this!"

As the words sank in, the bomb-wielder stopped, turning to look at Todd. "Fine," she snapped after a moment, and jerked out of his grasp, crossing her arms and standing still, though still glaring at Duncan, the hatred visible in her eyes.

"I-don't-care! Let-go-Fred!" the speed demon snapped.

Tabitha looked at Pietro, eyes softening but losing none of its seriousness and still unable to let go of the anger.  
"Pietro, don't. They're not worth it," she moved over to him, uncrossing her arms and grabbing one of his hands by the wrist. Pitching her voice low so that only her friends could hear her, she spoke, hard eyes on Duncan all the while.  
"They're not worth getting Lance in trouble; and we can't have him getting all worked up over things, all right?"

The five football players, though at first shocked at the strong reaction and actually having stepped back, had recovered from the initial surprise.  
Duncan smirked, seeing Pietro scowling at them, but holding back after Fred released him from his grip. There was no mistaking the loathing in the speed demons cerulean blue eyes.  
"Backing out now? That's just what youd do."

"Really?"  
Before anyone could even predict it, Tabitha slammed her fist into the other teens face. There was a definite crack as the boys nose broke, and Duncan Matthews fell back for the third time that morning.

"Tabby!" Pietro, Todd, Fred, and Scott shouted simultaneously, and for once, Pietro was too preoccupied with the situation to be annoyed at that.

Tabitha turned, and didn't even bother to give them an Im innocent smile, smirking instead. She shrugged, raising her arms to the sides and up in the air in classic I-havent-a-clue-on-how-that-happened position.  
"What?"

"Since when am I the mature one!" Pietro shouted. After a second, he smirked. "Oh, I'm not."

There was a series of muffled punches and a moment later the four other jocks were down, all grabbing their noses, knees, or arms.

Fred looked at Tabitha, Pietro, and lastly, Todd.  
"...Garbage disposal?"

"I'll get it, yo!"

For the longest time, Scott Summers was at a loss for any words.

* * *

"How is this different from you just watching TV and leaving me alone?"

Lance glanced at the younger boy, obviously bored. They were on the couch, in front of the TV, but Lance wasn't really paying much attention on the television. Then again, neither was Jamie; the young boy seemed to love asking Lance all sorts of questions, despite the fact that Lance was reluctant in answering and only replied with the most necessary of succinct responses.

"Well, I'm not doing it alone. Besides, you didn't want to play any games with me."

"I'm eighteen, I think I'm a little too old to be playing games with a ten year old."

"I'm twelve," Jamie corrected, but one could tell that he really wasnt bothered by the inaccuracy.

"Same difference. Cant you do this with someone else?"

"Who? Everyones at school. Mr. McCoy teaches me chess and stuff sometimes, and Ms. Munroe too, but they're busy. The Professors busy too. Mr. Logan doesn't really like to be bothered."

Lance rolled his eyes. "I can't imagine why."

Oblivious to the older boys tone, Jamie turned off the television and turned to look at him. "Want to get something to eat?"

Lance sighed. "Whatever, kid."

"My names Jamie," Jamie corrected automatically as he got up from the couch.

"Jamie," Lance sighed as he followed the boy out. But to be truthful, he didn't mind it so much; it had been a while since anyone really talked to him, besides the Brotherhood of course. He hadn't realized it, but he must have missed it a little, seeing someone care. And it was kind of... nice, he supposed, to see someone so naive- untainted.

"I'm going to be stuck with you until someone gets back, arent I?" Lance glanced at the boy, not wanting to admit it, but deciding to face reality.

"Yup! What do you want to eat?" Jamie smiled.

"Don't care," Lance shrugged.

"Let's have sandwiches!" Jamie declared, and without waiting for a response, headed over to the cupboard, taking out the bread.

He was kind of like Pietro when he was hyper. Only younger, and... er, cuter, for a lack of words, in that kid way. Plus, Jamie was less destructive, although that was mostly just because of the difference in their powers. Though Pietros love of pranks probably had something to do with it as well, especially when the Brotherhood was at school. Upon remembering his friends and the school, Lance frowned. He had a feeling some less than friendly people would be more than happy to see him missing. If anyone bothered one of the Brotherhood members, they were going to have a personal meeting with Lances fists. Shaking himself out of the thoughts, Lance glanced at Jamie.  
"What do you do when there's no one to bother?"

"I get bored. There's not much to do around here, at least not by yourself."

"Why are you home schooled anyhow?" Lance sat down at the table in the kitchen. It was smaller, compared to the one in the dining room, but only two people were going to be using it at the moment, so it didnt matter.

"Professor's worried that my powers might activate accidentally in school or something. He's probably right, but it'd be nice if there was someone else home schooling with me. It gets boring by myself. Are you going to stay here? Can you stay and be home schooled with me?"

Not having expected the sudden return of the question, Lance took a moment to answer.  
"No, I'm not staying. And in any case, I already go to school. Most of the time anyhow."

"Why aren't you staying? Are your friends going to leave too? Why don't you want to stay here? Don't you like it here?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Lance noted.

"You asked me questions too," Jamie defended, handing him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Not as many as you," Lance shrugged as he took the plate, but merely put it down on the table. "I don't belong here, kid."

"My names Jamie."

"Right, Jamie. Are you going to stop asking questions once you start eating?"

"Maybe," Jamie smiled as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

* * *

"So much for the stay out of trouble plan, yo," Todd looked at his three friends as they walked away from the dumpster.

"Hey, it was worth it. No one disses us that way, especially not when Lances not around," Pietro dusted himself off.

"Yeah, but if Matthews rats on us, which he probably will, things aren't going to be pretty," Fred didn't hide the worry.

"He won't; that jerk would never admit to being beaten by us, much less being beaten up," Tabitha assured.  
"The most he'll do is try to get us individually. So we'll have to watch our backs; but we do that anyhow. We got someone else to think about though," she nodded over to Scott, who was waiting in the hall for the quartet.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

"We don't owe you anything. But while were on the subject of explanations- you're one to say. Just-what-did-you-think-you-were-doing-back-there? Who- do-you-think-you-are-getting-into-our-business-like-that?" Pietro shot back, glaring at Scott.

"I just thought you might be in trouble. I was trying to help," Scott replied, a little taken aback by the hostility in the others voice.

"We don't need your help," Pietro snapped.

"Come on Pie', chill out, man," Todd grabbed the older teens arm.

While letting himself be pulled back, Pietro didn't drop the glower.  
"Stay out of our life, and we'll stay out of yours. That was the deal wasnt it?"

"Pietro," Tabitha stepped closer, next to the white-haired teen and the brunette he was facing. "You don't have to make up for Lance," she murmured low under her breath, to prevent Scott from overhearing the comment.

Pietro flamed at that, and promptly turned to Tabitha with a glare of denial at such an idea. Tabitha didn't back down from his blue eyes, her blue gaze just as strong, although she wasnt glaring, just firm in standing by her words.  
Finally, Pietro nodded, half to admitting the words, and half in agreement with the general thought of not starting a fight.  
"Stay out of our life," he glared at Scott, but proceeded to walk past the taller teen.

"Just leave us alone; we're leaving you alone," Todd mumbled before following the other boy.

"Besides, it was no powers, mostly," Fred didn't bother with more, hastening his footsteps to catch up to the two boys.

"We don't need your help, so don't make the mistake of assuming that we do," sparing time for the last words, Tabitha too left the hall in accordance with the actions of her friends.

* * *

"Are you really eighteen?"

"I told you already, yeah I'm eighteen. How many times do you want me to repeat that before you start to believe it?" Lance managed to look annoyed, though he was getting to enjoy the company more and more as time passed.

"Wow. I bet you get to do all kinds of cool stuff. Nobody ever lets me do anything. And just because I'm younger, or because I multiply," Jamie frowned.

"If you're talking about the others taking the X-Jet, you should be happy you didn't go," Lance rolled his eyes slightly at the memory.  
"Unless you consider life-threatening situations to be fun."

"And you'd better not."

Both occupants of the kitchen turned at hearing the new but familiar, and unmistakable voice. Lance instantly rose from his seat, tense.

"Hey Mr. Logan; do you want a sandwich?" Jamie didn't seem to notice the older boys anxiety.

"Nah kid, I gotta talk to Shakedown here," Logan replied at the offer.

"Okay. I should probably check up with Mr. McCoy anyhow. See you later Lance," Jamie smiled before leaving the room, and the two older mutants.

"Sure, whatever," Lance nodded once, but he was looking at Logan now, eyes fixed on him.

"What do you..." Lance drew back as Logan approached, but the older man merely stepped behind him and gave him a slight shove towards the exit, somewhat gently, especially for Logan.

"We need to talk. In the library; now."

Scowling, Lance didnt reply, but headed out and towards the named destination. He repressed the rising worry, focusing on walking with the least amount of wall aid as possible.

They reached the door soon enough, and Logan opened it, giving Lance a look that clearly told him to get inside. Lance glared, but went in, walking into the middle of the room just as Logan closed the door.

The older mutant walked over to the teen and motioned to the chairs around them. "Sit down. You're not going anywhere."

Watching Logan, Lance took a seat in the nearest chair.

Logan waited until Lance was seated, then spoke, attentive to the fact that Lance was glaring at him and giving him a look in response.  
"I want to talk to you about before, but first, what's this I hear about some fight? Between you kids, at that?"

"What's it to you?" Lance snapped.

"I want straight answers, Rocky."

At the slight change in tone, Lance flinched, though barely moving.  
"We just had an argument."

Logan frowned.  
"Not what I heard. Why were you so set on them going to school? The way I've heard it, you've all skipped school, more than once. And what happened with Toad on Friday night?"

"I just was, all right? We argue all the time. As for Friday night, that is none of your business. Why are you asking me about this?"

"Because I want to know what happened."

"Don't pretend to care. We dont need your pity," Lance snapped.

"Good, because I don't give pity. And I wouldn't be asking unless I cared," Logan looked at the teen, losing patience but trying to stay calm.  
"Now your'e either going to tell me what happened, or you can tell one of Charles, Hank, and Ororo. Either way, you're going to tell someone, now or later. Your choice, Rocky."

"It doesn't have anything to do with you," Lance narrowed his eyes, but at the same time he edged back, now right up against the back of the chair.

"Well you're going to tell us anyhow. Now what's it gonna be," Logan growled in spite of himself.

Getting even tenser at the tone, Lance drew back, only to find that he was already as far away from Logan as possible. Which was too close.

"Answer me," Logan reached for him, thinking that Lance would try to leave to avoid continuing the conversation, and wanting to prevent it.

For a moment a flash of fear escaped through Lances eyes, and he closed them without even thinking about it, automatically reacting to the knowledge of the impending blow. But when the anticipated hit did not come, Lance cautiously opened his eyes, sure that he would be struck the moment he did.

Surprisingly, he was not.

Instead, Logan was staring at him, a mixture of emotions on his face. But the most distinct of the composition was surprise. Logan was as surprised as Lance was, if not more.

And that surprised Lance even more than before.

Mentally preparing himself for the pain that was certainly imminent, Lance looked at Logan, gathering up the courage to speak.

"...Wolverine?"


	23. Chapter 23 Wolverine & Avalanche

**Chapter 23. Wolverine & Avalanche.**

"Please please please!"

"Come on, Tabby; it's not like we haven't before," Pietro grumbled.

"No! Todd, stop whining, its not going to work!"

"Aw, come on! Freddy, back me up, yo," Todd turned from the blond to the large teen.

"Nah, Tabby's right, guys. Besides, Lance wouldn't want us to," Fred shrugged his shoulders.

"Two-two, even. Let's call it individual action," Pietro put in.

"Two-three, 'Tro. You and Todd. Me, Freddy, and Lance. Two-three. We are not skipping the rest of the day."

"Oh-come-on!" Pietro was exasperated.  
"Lance doesn't really expect us to stay here the whole day. We already stayed till lunch, that's enough! Besides, what's the big deal!"

"I don't know, but we can interrogate him later. **After** school," Tabitha replied, heading down the hall.  
"See you guys later, I'm going to English. Watch out for Matthews and his moron gang," she tossed the empty soda can in the garbage and waved shortly as she left.

"Two-two! I'm leaving!" Pietro shouted.

"I'll see you after math, Pie!" Tabitha yelled back.

"I don't get it, Tabby voting to stay in school? TABBY? I-cant-believe-this. She's-the-one-that-wants-to-ditch-most-of-the-time!" Pietro ranted.  
"Maybe-she's-sick," he muttered.

"Maybe they've got a point yo," Todd looked at the older teen.  
"I mean, Lance's gotta have a reason for making us come here; maybe we should just stick it out till the end, and get the why's afterwards. It ain't that bad."

"Yeah 'Tro, we can do it," Fred supported.  
"It's not that long till the end of classes. We don't get detention and we're off free."

"When do we not get detention, Freddy?"

"We can skip detention yo. At least we stayed in all our classes."

"Well, except when we were taking care of Matthews," Fred corrected.

"Oh yeah, except that," Todd nodded. "But that was a good reason."

"Good point," Fred agreed.

"Oh fine. If you two are staying too, I might as well," Pietro murmured.  
"Look out for Matthews, all right? I'll meet you after each class; I have the time."

Todd and Fred gave their friend a grin and with that the three headed to their classes.

* * *

For once, Logan had no idea what to do.  
Wordlessly, he stepped back, away from Lance.

It wasnt that Lance had cringed or anything, as a matter of fact he had remained completely still, albeit closing his eyes. It was the fear that passed through his eyes, the abrupt eruption of fear, which stunned Logan.  
There was no doubt that Lance had expected something violent, and seeing the way he reacted so quickly, Logan had the sinking feeling that such predictions came naturally to the teen.

"...Wolverine?"

That managed to bring Logan out of the trance-like state, and resembling someone who had just been shaken awake, Logan turned his attention on Lance again.  
There was no mistaking the fear on him now; it was too vivid, too strong to miss. It was a minute before Logan realized that Lance's voice had been completely different from its usual tone. Timorous and apprehensive, it granted no comparison to the hotheaded and short-tempered teens regular attitude.

At a loss as to responding, Logan simply stared at the teen, not a single word coming to mind.

* * *

Now Lance had no idea what to do.

He knew from experience better than to even think of moving, not that he would even be able to run.  
Wishing that he hadn't sat down, Lance tried to take a guess at what was going on, at what would happen. Maybe he was taking his time, using the wait to make Lance more nervous? Leisure was a method of intimidation that had been used on him several times before.  
Not daring to speak again, Lance resigned himself to waiting and watching, not knowing when the inescapable would happen, dreading the inevitable.

* * *

Logan simply did not know what to do.

The only thing that managed to keep him focused was the telepathic question that reached his mind.

_Logan, is everything all right? Lance seems-_

_Charles, I need you in here; now!_

_Logan?_

_Right now! Bring Hank and Ororo!_

* * *

From the med. lab, Hank noticed that Charles was looking more stressed, and paused in his work, waiting for the telepathic conversation to finish.

_We'll be right down, Logan.  
_With that, Charles turned to Hank.  
"Something has happened; Logan needs us in the east library. I will contact Ororo, but we must get there quickly."

Nodding, Hank set to moving as Charles gave the weather witch a brief summary of what he knew and the request via telepathy.

* * *

"I'm not gonna hurt you."

Logan wished his words would be able to convince the teen, but knew from the look in his eyes that they had almost no effect.

"I am not going to hurt you, Lance," Logan took a step forward, but that only caused the other to press up against the back of the chair, closing his eyes, and Logan moved away again.

"Logan, Lance, what happened?"

Logan turned, grateful for the three adults quick arrival.  
"Do something, he's scared out of his mind; I don't know what I'm supposed to do here."

The three adults turned their attention on Lance, who was staring at them, fear vivid in his eyes.

"What..." Hank started, but Logan shook his head.

"I dont know, but do something first, and fast."

"Lance? Lance, its all right," Ororo moved towards him, but upon receiving the same reaction Logan had gotten before, stopped.

"Lance. Wer'e not going to hurt you, Lance," Charles tried to reach him through the mind, but the teen's mind was too disorganized and chaotic, and the telepath was only bombarded by the myriad of thoughts and memories that presently dominated Lance's mind.  
"I can't get to him. But we must convince him that we will not harm him somehow."

* * *

Lance withdrew even further, or at least attempted to, at the entrance of the three other X-Men.  
Desperately he tried to sink further into the chair, wishing that he could turn invisible.

"Lance. Lance, listen to us. We're not going to hurt you. You don't have to be afraid."

They were saying something, but Lance had long since learned that hearing only made things harder to endure, and had learned to make the sounds go away.  
But there was a difference in their tone... he felt something different about it, he knew it.  
He just didn't know what.

In his mind he remembered all the past beatings; they were all coming back now, and he couldn't think clearly.  
All he knew was that it was going to happen again, and he would have to endure another night of pain and fear.  
He never could remember anything besides these memories during these times- no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything pleasant, anything happy to keep the pain away.  
The worst things always happened at the worst times.

* * *

Charles struggled to clear his mind of the memories and thoughts Lance was wildly projecting, but found it increasingly difficult. And no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he tried, he couldn't get through to him.

"Lance, we're not going to hurt you."

"You can trust us. You don't have to be scared," Ororo attempted after Hank, but neither was successful.

* * *

They weren't hurting him.

But how long would it last?

Trembling, Lance backed away, cringing when they tried to step closer.

It wouldn't last long.

And soon, history would repeat itself again.

* * *

"We're not getting through," Logan murmured, his words lined with worry, unfamiliar in his voice.

"He's not hearing us," Hank observed, open in his concern.

"I will try to reach him through the mind again," Charles broke out of the raging sea of emotions around him, just long enough to inform them of his attempts.

"We must keep trying," Ororo turned back to Lance.

Hank nodded. "He's responding to us, so he's still attentive, just not necessarily listening."

"Well, make him listen!"

"It's not that easy, Logan," Ororo replied, knowing the man well enough to understand his way of showing his concern.  
"And you must keep your anger in control," she added, motioning to the teen, who had his eyes closed again.

Realizing that she was right, Logan toned down his voice as he responded.  
"I'll try. Get back to him. What do we do?"

"We keep talking to him," Hank said as he turned his full attention back to Lance.  
"It's the most we can do, and we might be able to get through to him."

_

* * *

_

_Youre hurting him!_

_Stop it!_

_Get away from them!_

_Back off!_

_Leave them alone!_

_Get back!_

_Stay away!_

_NO!_

Lance nearly felt the blow, nearly felt himself crashing onto the floor. But he wasn't falling, and he wasn't there anymore. It was all in the past.  
Only, it didnt feel that way.  
It felt like he was back there again, back in that hell.

_

* * *

_

_Lance, can you hear me?_

Nothing.

Straining to keep his voice separate from all the memories swarming them, Charles spoke telepathically, his words sluggish and clouded as if in water.

_Lance? You have to try._

He could barely be heard, even to himself.  
There was too much noise around them, too many thoughts, too many memories. Too much of everything.  
Once again Charles concentrated on keeping his voice free from melting into the mixture.

_You must try to hear me. You won't unless you try, unless you want to._

Charles struggled to keep the mental link clear, but there was too much interference. And still no response.

_I know it's hard, Lance, but you must try._

There was a slight disturbance around them, and Charles took it as his opening.

_You can trust me._

In the midst of the contorted reality, the turmoil of the memories, the emotions, and the thoughts, Charles felt the pending response, felt its caustic nature before he heard it.  
And seconds after he heard the reply, Charles was forced off the mental link, ravaging darkness overpowering him in its cold hostility, the words echoing in his mind even after his departure from Lances thoughts.

_**You don't. Why should I?**_

* * *

Logan was the first to notice their resident telepath opening his eyes with a start, but he had to turn his attention away when, almost immediately following, the entire building shuddered.  
Unsheathing his claws on reflex, Logan turned towards Lance, but within seconds the earthquake died out, as the teen blacked out.

Hank cast a brief glance towards Logan and Charles at the earthquake. As far as he and Ororo could see, Lance seemed to be shutting them out entirely, so he guessed that Charles must have gotten past the mental shields and reached him.

"Lance," reacting quickly, Hank took a step closer, to restrain him if necessary, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that Ororo was moving over as well.  
It would not do for Lance to hurt himself by using his powers again, not to mention the fact that it didnt seem like the teen had control over the effects of his powers as of the moment.

But just as they did, the earthquake ceased, and Lances tense figure eased uncomfortably, slumping back.

"Charles?"  
Ororo turned to the telepath, but he only shook his head, rubbing his temples with one hand.

"He is unconscious. A side effect of his powers and his current condition."

"Did you get anything from him before he passed out? What exactly made him react this way?" Hank cautiously picked the teen up, motioning for them to head out.

"There was too much for me to decipher at once, but for certain, we know that he doesn't trust us," Charles sighed.

"This would be hard enough with his trust," Logan mumbled as he closed the door after them.

"What happened? Before we came?" Ororo looked at Logan.

"Dont ask me, 'Ro. I was just talking to the kid," Logan grunted.  
"I don't know any more than you do."

Charles looked from his friend to the teen. "We will have to find out for ourselves when Lance wakes up."

* * *

"Get lost, Daniels," Pietro spat when he noticed the skateboarder approaching out of the corner of his eyes.

Clenching his hands tightly, Evan resisted the urge to snap back with a remark.  
"Don't bother Maximoff; I'm just checking up on Toad."

"Well he's fine, not that you give a damn, so just leave us alone. All of you X-Geeks."

"Look, we both know were stuck in this situation for a while, so why don't you just chill out, Maximoff?"

"I have a better idea Daniels- why don't you just get lost?"

"Hey, you're the ones that came to us and started this whole business!"

"And I told you, we don't need anything from you. So stay out of our lives!" Pietro snapped.

"Man, what's the matter with you? We're trying to help you guys, the least you can do is be a little nice to us."

Pietro narrowed his eyes. "We don't need your help."

"It didn't seem that way last I heard," Evan shot back, temper rising.

"You heard wrong," Pietro hissed.

"It seemed pretty clear to me."

"You never were very bright."

Scowling, Evan turned.  
"Fine, man, I don't need this," disgusted, he stormed out of the hall, Pietro glaring after him.

It was only after the bell rang and the door of Todd's classroom opened that Pietro turned his attention away from the X-man.

* * *

'What happene- Ow... lets not think for a moment,' Lance winced at the throbbing pain.

'Come on Lance, get over it... now, what happened? Where is everyone? What was I doing and where the hell am I?'

Mentally sighing, he desperately willed the aching to stop, or to at least decrease, but no such wish was granted.

All right... one thing at a time... lets begin with opening your eyes. Yeah, that works. Maybe then youll figure out where everyone is, not to mention you, and whatever the hell happened.

After another mental sigh and a moment of hesitation, Lance slowly opened his eyes, only to close it again when it felt like needles were tearing at him from all sides, and sharp, shooting pain raced across him.

'Okay... bad idea. Let's not do that again. At least not anytime soon... damn it, where am I? Where is everyone? Why is my brain refusing to cooperate? Why am I thinking to myself as if I'm talking?'

With a sigh, Lance forced himself to open his eyes, shuddering at the pain but biting down and ignoring it the best he could.

He couldn't really tell anything apart- everything seemed to be one big blur, no focus on anything. And it was as if there was a haze around them, or as if he was in the middle of London fog. He knew he was lying on his side, but that was pretty much all he was sure of at the moment.

He had to close his eyes again, before he could concentrate, because the pain of keeping them open was almost unbearable, though having them closed did not help greatly.

In the background, he heard some voices, but he was too tired and disconnected to decipher the words, and dismissed them to be the voices of Fred, Todd, Pietro and Tabby.

'Well at least I have one question answered... which pretty much answers the rest of the questions. Better get up,' he thought to himself as he felt footsteps nearing.

"Are you certain he has awoken?"

Tabby? Was it?  
He wasnt sure; something didnt quite match up.

"Positive. He's awake."

It didn't feel right.

Nonetheless he opened his eyes, forcing himself not to grimace at the pain following the decision.

It took a moment for his vision to clear and focus. And he immediately wished he was unconscious again.

"Hey, you awake Rocky?"

Lance barely nodded in response to the half-growl, wishing he could sit up but not daring to. Instead he comforted himself by backing slightly away from the two, at least as much as it was possible without being blatantly obvious about it.

Memories flooded back, and he instantly remembered what had happened. Or at least, most of it. He never remembered those kinds of incidents in detail because, well, it didn't do any good.  
It was better to forget them, and just go on with his life.

"How are you feeling?" Ororo asked, giving Logan a momentary glance, reminding him of the situation.

Catching the look, Logan spoke with less of his usually rough demeanor, settling for a calmer tone, if not significantly softer.  
"You hurting?"

The questions caught him off guard, but after a moment of consideration Lance concluded that, in comparison with past experiences, he wasn't really in much pain. Besides his headache of course, but that was always there.  
With that in mind, he shook his head once.  
Though the action did intensify the pain for a moment, he preferred it to speaking. Words were usually found more punishable; slight actions could always go unnoticed or deemed unworthy of the time. Of course there were exceptions to this, but he didn't have time to think about that right now.

"Do you remember what happened?" Gently and carefully Ororo reached for him, but he cringed back instinctively, and she withdrew her hand.

After another brief moment to contemplate the question, Lance nodded. At least, he remembered most of it.  
Then again... if he remembered correctly... no, that didnt make sense at all. That didn't make sense... they hadn't hit him. They hadn't hit him at all.  
They hadn't.

But that didn't make sense... unless they were back because of that?

Paling even further, Lance drew back as far away from the two as he could. His quivering was hardly noticeable, but Logan didn't miss much.

"Calm down, we're not gonna hurt ya, Rocky."

It wasn't much comfort, yet something about the words let Lance relax a little.

"...What are you going to do?"

"We only want to talk to you," Ororo reassured. Noting the teens uncomfortable pose, she decided to add to the statement.  
"If you want to sit up, and it doesn't hurt you, don't hesitate to."

Lance looked at her for a moment, though not meeting her eyes, but after a quick glance at Logan, shook his head, dropping his gaze once more.

Noticing the exchange, Logan got up.  
"Do what she says, Shakedown," he murmured gruffly before using the excuse of getting a chair for himself and Ororo and taking leave for the moment.

Looking up at his words, Lance immediately pushed himself up to a sitting position as the older mutant exited the enclosed space around the bed of the med. lab.  
The haste of his actions made his head spin, but ignoring that, Lance turned back to Ororo as the white-haired woman spoke once more.  
"You don't have to be scared."

"I'm not," Lance refuted, though his voice was quiet and his gaze downcast.

"We're not going expect you to trust us right away," Ororos voice was calming and strangely soothing, but Lance didnt dare drop his guard.  
"But you don't have any reason to be afraid."

Lance nodded but immediately dropped his eyes once more as Logan entered with two folded chairs, handing one to Ororo.

Graciously accepting the prop with thanks, Ororo set the chair down on Lances left side, while Logan occupied the right. The idea of being surrounded on both sides did nothing to help Lances anxiety, but this time he managed to hide it.

"So... talk, Rocky."  
When he only received a meek look of confusion in response, Logan clarified.  
"What happened back there?"

"...I...I don't know."

"Lets start from the beginning," Ororo went on after Lances slight nod.  
"When did this start?"

"...I don't know."

"You don't know, or you're not sure?"

Looking at Ororo then back down, Lance hesitated.  
"...I'm not sure," he answered at last.

"Tell us as much as you remember."

"...About what?"

"About all of this, Lance. When did it start? How did it start?"

Looking away from their gazes, Lance weighed the matter in his mind.  
On one hand, these matters were something he tried hard to forget, and had no wish to share with anyone. But despite everything they were saying, he was sure he would be punished, sooner if not later. And it would only bring him more pain not to answer quickly. Not to mention they would get it out of him, one way or another.  
But this... this was personal. He didn't want to let anyone know about this. Not about the Brotherhood.

They didn't have any right to know.

"Well?"

Flinching at Logans tone and the reaction Lance predicted would come after this, Lance swallowed hard before shaking his head.  
"...No."

"No?"

"No," Lance repeated after Ororo. "I can't... I won't tell you."

"Lance-"

"Ororo," Logan cut in, getting up and motioning for Ororo to come outside. Once they were far enough from the teen, Logan spoke.

"Let me try, Ro."

"Logan?"

"I think I can do it."

Staring into the eyes of the outwardly feral but surprisingly caring man, Ororo saw firm conviction.  
"...Very well. How are you going to-"

"I'm not sure yet, but I have a feeling about this. Trust me on this."

"I do, Logan. Just be careful with your temper," Ororo reminded as she headed for the door.  
"I will check on Hank and Jamie; Hank can get back to his work once I take over with Jamie's studies."

Nodding, Logan waited until she left, closing the door behind her, before turning back towards Lances direction.

Lance saw him approaching behind the white curtains around the bed and instinctively braced himself as he saw Logan enter through the opening.

Closing the gap between the two curtained dividers, Logan looked at Lance, and moved his chair closer before sitting down.

Tense, Lances eyes followed his every movements, before dropping just beneath his shoulders as the older man sat down.

"I'm going to talk to you alone now," Logan stated, watching the teens reaction. Receiving a vague nod, he continued.  
"All right, Shakedown. Let's skip the polite talk and get to the point; we both don't 'chat' very well. I know you don't even like me, much less trust me."  
He only got silence as the answer, but after a second, went on.  
"And truth is, I don't much like you either."

Cringing, Lance redirected his gaze to the floor.

"But I'm going to try to trust you. And I want you to do the same thing, got it?"

Not having expected the turn, Lance looked up once more, studying the other before giving a single nod.

"Good. Now, tell me the truth. Quicksilver told us Mystique, Magneto, and Sabertooth," Logan couldnt help growling at the last of the names, "gave you those," he lifted the corner of Lances t-shirt, revealing a number of slightly faded scars.  
"Is that right?"

Flinching at the growl and the touch, Lance dropped his gaze immediately, automatically drawing back and away from Logan's hand before nodding.

Noticing his response, Logan let out something in between a growl and a sigh, looking at Lance.  
"All right, Rocky. Look at me."

Visibly reluctant, Lance slowly looked up, deep brown eyes meeting Logan's equally dark brown ones.

"I'm **not** Sabertooth."

* * *

"Did you hear?" 

"Hello to you too. Come on, we like, have to check on Pietro."

"But did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Tabby broke Duncan's nose!"

"No way!"

"Yes vay! Scott saw it. Zere vas a fight between ze Brozerhood, vith Duncan and his friends. I vish I had been zere."

"What? Kurt, I didn't know you didnt like Duncan!"

The boy shrugged as they started walking down the hall. "He is not very nice."

"Like, totally! I don't know what Jean sees in him."

"Maybe it is a phase."

"Do you think so?"

"Let's hope so."

* * *

"I know," Lance replied quietly, looking away.

But Logan's hand reached for his face, tipping his chin up so that they were eye-level once more.

"No, I don't think you do. I'm nothing like Sabertooth."

Stiffening at the touch but not daring to move away, Lance only nodded. It wasn't hard to see the fear in his eyes, mixed with distrust, and hidden deeper, hatred.

Out of the blue, almost, Logan found himself asking an entirely different question as he let go of the teens face. Lance immediately let his gaze drop.  
"How old were you when your powers showed up?"

"...Eight."

Logan cocked an eyebrow at that. He hadnt known that Lances powers had manifested so early on.  
"How'd your parents take it?"

Lance looked up, studying Logans features for a moment as he debated his answer, and whether to tell the truth or not.  
Finally, he decided that he really didn't have much left to lose, and went with truth. Besides, it wasnt like they couldn't find out, having a telepath around and all.  
"...They didn't."

At Logans questioning gaze, Lance elaborated.  
"I wasn't with them. They never found out."

"You couldn't have kept it a secret all your life," Logan stated with unhidden skepticism.

"I didn't. I just wasn't living with them."

Noting the change in tone, from apprehensive to emotionless, Logan wondered if he should go on, but decided to anyhow. He got this far, and at least the kid wasnt scared anymore. That was an improvement, something to start with.  
"Why not?"

"...I don't have parents."

Logan waited to see if the teen would explain why, but when Lance didn't he had to assume that they were dead. Just as he was about to ask another question, however, Lance continued.

"They left me near an orphanage when I was five; I haven't seen them since. Someone from the orphanage found me and I was there for a while, before I was... before some people took me."

It took a moment for Logan to digest this information, but finally he nodded.  
"So you were a foster home when it happened."

Something crossed over Lances face, but he soon reverted to an expression of apathy.  
"I was on the streets."

"What?" Momentarily taken off guard, Logan almost missed the fleeting flash passing the teens eyes.

"I was on the streets," Lance repeated.

Logan didn't bother with long questions, and went directly to the point.  
"How?"

"I ran away."

"Why?"

This time Lance paused, taking time to choose his words.  
"...I didn't like it...staying with...those people."

Now Logan was kind of lost. He was only getting little clips of the story, and out of sequence at that.  
"Start from the beginning."

* * *

"Ah can't believe y'all did that."

"He deserved it," Fred said in defense of himself and, more so, his friends.

"Yeah, but Ah mean... breakin' his nose? Fightin' to begin with isn't exactly the best solution," Rogue said, still somewhat stuck on the digestion of the first information she had received.

"Its the only solution for us," Fred looked at her, pausing in his steps.  
"Do you think it was wrong? Were we wrong?"

Turning to look at him as well, Rogue shook her head after a second.  
"No... Ah guess Ah would have done tha' same thing if Ah had been there. Just don't get into too many fights, yah know? Ah don't want y'all gettin' in trouble or anything."

Fred nodded with a smile. "We won't," he assured.

After a moment of pondering what she had heard again, Rogue spoke once more.  
"Ah would hate to get on Tabitha's bad side."

Fred nodded in agreement.  
"Me too... but what's going on between you two?"

"Ah have no idea."

"I think you should find out... now that were friends and everything, you should be friends with Tabby too. She's one of us."

Giving him a look of confirmation, Rogue nodded.  
"Ah'll try tah find out. But Ah don't know how it'll go."

* * *

Start from the beginning?  
Lance unconsciously clenched his fists tightly.  
Everything?  
The debate was a brief one, lasting only a few seconds.

"...Why should I have to tell you?" he sounded bolder than he felt, Lance knew.  
But he had no wish to tell anyone the whole story about his past; as it were, the Brotherhood knew most of it- much more than he wanted them to know.

'And we're back to square one,' Logan thought.  
"Look Rocky, if you're going to act that way every time I try to talk to ya, I think I have a right to know why," he grunted.  
Mentally he reproved himself; he hadn't meant to be so sharp. But he wasn't exactly used to talking to the kids. He barely had any experience to speak of in that area. Especially in the case of recalcitrant, headstrong teens such as Lance, who seemed to be having major mood swings as it were, not to mention being incredibly unstable.  
'Maybe I should have just let Ororo handle this.'

Though flinching at the unintended but nonetheless caustic verbal attack, Lance hardly let it show.  
"You don't have a right to know anything. Not about me, not about any of us."

It was through sheer force of will that Lance did not react with any visible fear as Logan leaned forward.

"All right Rocky," the two sets of brown eyes met, though the younger set had a fire about them, despite the mixed feelings they portrayed.  
And though there was a definite age difference in the two gazes, the younger of the two could only be deemed young in comparison with the first.  
"Let's make a deal."

* * *

"You sure this is a good idea?" 

"Why not? Something bothering you, Froggy? What's the matter?"

"Nothing, yo... its just... we left Lance alone back there. Why're we waiting for school to end and all that? I know Lance wanted us to stay for classes and stuff, but it ain't like its a big deal for us to miss a day, or even a couple classes."

Pushing herself off the railing they had been occupying, Tabitha turned to look at the younger teen.  
"Todd, it's... theres a lot of reasons. Like you said, Lance wants us to stick around in school for the day, and it might be a good way for him to catch up on his sleep and rest. He worries about us too much; if we had stayed, he would probably have been looking after us, not the other way around. We'll just give him a little space for today. We can skip school tomorrow."

"Oh, sure, Tabby. I get it now," Todd grinned, hopping off the rail himself.  
"Just let him chill for a day, huh? Good thinking."

She grinned back, but her heart wasn't in it, though she didnt let it show.  
"Yeah..."

Both swerved around at the sound of the bell.

"Damn, we're going to be late! Again!"

"We gotta run, yo! Thanks for the soda!" Todd waved as he started down the hall in a long jump.

Tabitha nodded before heading in the direction of her next class as well.  
"No problem, Toddy! See you later!"

* * *

"What?"

"You told me you would try to trust me, but that's obviously not working. So let's make a deal."  
Getting only a confused look from Lance, Logan continued.  
"You tell me what I want to know, and I'll leave you alone."

Before the teen could raise objections, Logan added another point.  
"And I won't ask about your past. Forcing you to talk about it ain't gonna help anything."

After a long moment, Lance spoke.  
"What do you want to know?"


	24. Chapter 24 XMen, Brotherhood we're all j...

**Chapter 24. X-Men, Brotherhood- we're all just trying to survive.**

"...What do you want to know?"

Logan paused. He hadn't been sure that would work, and now that it had, he was somewhat surprised.  
"First off, tell me what happened with you and those," he said, nodding to Lance's arm, and in effect, his injuries.

Putting his hand over the arm automatically, Lance stared down at the floor, wondering if there was any possible way to get out of this. But as usual, there was no escape. Not for him.

"...I..." he paused, hesitating once more. "...I...Mystique..." he sighed, eyes never daring to wander up. Nervously he continued.  
"...Mystique used to slap us around sometimes, all of us. She quit trying with Fred after the first time because it was no use, but she did hit Todd and Pietro too, not just me."  
Recollecting the beginning, he realized how foolish he had been then- foolish enough to hope that things would not get worse. His whole life went in the other direction; why would it have stopped all of a sudden?  
Shaking his head, Lance continued.  
"...But it wasn't really all that bad... we're all used to getting knocked about now and then. Every once in a while, it was worse, but it was still okay... It didn't get really bad until later."  
He stopped there, not wanting to go on.

Logan waited for a moment, but when the teen didn't say anything more, he nodded and with a question, signaled him to continue.  
"How does Sabertooth come in?"

Shifting nervously, Lance glanced up at Logan's shoes for a second before his gaze settled back onto the floor. His voice barely audible and subdued, he clenched his fists tightly, willing the memories away. Willing the nightmares away.  
"...I never meant for it to happen."

* * *

"Do you zink zey are all right? Ve haven't seen Pietro since lunch."

"I'm sure they're fine, Kurt," Jean assured. "I still can't believe you didn't stop them, Scott," she said, turning to the sunglasses-wearing teen.

"I didn't think Tabby would punch him like that. At least they didn't use their powers. Well they did, but only for a moment," Scott said, recalling the incident with less remorse than Jean would have liked.

"I guess it couldn't be helped," Jean finally sighed.  
Sometimes, she was so mixed up, between the X-Men and Duncan. While the X-Men were like a second family to her, she felt that she couldn't always side with them; otherwise she'd be unfair to Duncan. And vice versa. It was so confusing sometimes- much of the time. And right now, with everything happening with the Brotherhood, she was having a hard time making sense out of anything.  
"At least they are holding back from using their powers," the red head paused for a moment before hesitantly continuing.  
"...They seem so... tired. I could feel it on them. It was so strong."

"Vell, zey are probably vorried about Lance," Kurt shrugged.

"Yeah, Alvers wasn't looking so good when we left..." Scott nodded, remembering the way Lance had seemed, standing by a window, looking out as they left for school. He was pretty sure the other eighteen-year-old hadn't noticed that he had been spotted, but that mattered little as Scott realized just how tired Lance had seemed. It hadn't really registered till now, but Lance's usually healthy appearance had deteriorated greatly in the last several months. Frowning at the fact that he hadn't noticed it before, Scott pondered the issue for a moment before he was lightly tapped out of his thoughts.

"Hello? Scott, are you zere?"

"Huh? Yeah. Sorry Kurt. I was just thinking. I guess I zoned out. Where did Jean go?"

"To class. Ve passed her room vhile you vere off in your vorld. And ve just missed your class," Kurt pointed behind them, and indeed, the entrance to Scott's class was a few feet away.

"Oh, didn't see that. Thanks Kurt. I should get going," Scott nodded to his class as he started back.

"Yeah, you don't vant to be late," Kurt teased with a good-natured grin. "I vill see you later, zen."

"Sure, later Kurt."

* * *

"...I...If I had known... I would never have let it happen."

Known what? Let what happen? Logan didn't know, but he had a bad feeling about it. Bad enough that he didn't pressure Lance, sitting silently, waiting for the teen to continue, or not, of his own will.

"...One time, Sabertooth came; something about talking to Mystique. Well she was... disciplining us... something we did at school I think, I don't remember what. He decided to join in, just because," Lance shuddered at the memory, unable to control himself and keep from quivering.  
Curling his arms around himself, he looked at the floor, waiting for some comment, some blow. He was not allowed to mention this topic, and he knew that far too well. Why he had, he didn't even know. He was already regretting it.

Noting the heightened level of fear around the other, Logan growled, exasperated with himself for being unable to do anything about this.

Lance, however, took the growl as a sign of pending punishment, and immediately lowered his gaze further, drawing into himself.

Logan sighed, mentally shouting at himself for not keeping himself in check.  
"I'm not gonna hurt you," he repeated firmly. But it did little good, and Lance was still just as anxious.  
"Look at me," he said; making sure his voice was calmer, and gentler, this time.

Dejected at the order, Lance slowly raised his gaze, stopping just below Logan's shoulders. He was terrified, but he hid it better than Logan would've ever imagined prior to this day.  
Logan grimly wondered if it was due to experience.

Lance tensed up rigidly as Logan leaned forward, expecting retribution. It hadn't been once that someone had punished him for such an open act of defiance, regardless of being ordered to or not. But Logan merely tipped his face up, making the teen look up.

Logan sighed inwardly as Lance, though not offering any resistance and never moving, refused to meet his eyes, panic vivid. Just how much abuse had he gone through, to be so petrified at the simplest things?

Even Mystique, who Lance now considered the least of the three evils and even a savior during the worst of Sabertooth's beatings, would have cuffed him on the spot, and predictably on the side of his face. Lance silently wondered what was keeping this other mutant from doing the same.

Fearfully he looked up as Logan again repeated his previous words, but once more Lance could not work up the nerve to stare him in the eyes, despite the direct command. He briefly wondered if this was another 'game', but pushed the thought out of his mind when Logan spoke once more. He expected some rebuke from the other, to say the least, but there was no 'lecture', no 'lesson'. Instead of reprimanding him, Logan spoke calmly, maintaining his gentler tone.  
"I won't hurt you."

Lance immediately let his gaze drop once Logan let go of him, but it wasn't fast enough to hide his surprise.

"...Why do you get more... nervous, around me than anyone else?" Logan asked after a moment. He had a feeling he already knew most of the answer, but he had to know the full story.

Lance glanced up, his eyes resting on Logan's feet for a moment before dropping down once more. Wondering if this was a trick question, and if he was supposed to answer or not, he hesitated. When Logan gave no elaboration on the matter, he spoke timidly, his voice submissive and awaiting reproof.  
"...Because... you... you..." he closed his eyes, his next words even quieter than the ones previous. "He was the worst."

* * *

"It's just... Ah'm worried about them. Not just Lance, all of them, Kitty," Rogue sighed.  
"Ah can't say Ah really know them, like they do with each other, but Ah do know enough about what happened before tah know that they're not all right. This Lance thing is really bad for them."

"I thought you like, didn't really talk to them back when you were with them?" Kitty asked, somewhat confused, but nonetheless in agreement at being concerned.

"Ah mostly kept tah mahself. Ah didn't really talk tah anyone back then. But Ah did absorb them; remember? Everyone but Todd and Tabitha."

"Oh, right, you absorbed Pietro back when the whole Asteroid M thing happened," Kitty recalled with a frown, as the experience had not been a particularly pleasant one.  
"And... Fred that night..." she trailed off, recalling the night with mixed feelings. That night, the Brotherhood, including Lance, had tried to expose mutants to the world that night.  
But that wasn't what really stuck in Kitty's mind. No, the one thing she couldn't forget was how Lance had looked, unconscious after being crushed by the statue. His thin metal plates of armor were what saved him from serious damage, but she could guess that it wouldn't be a pleasant experience all the same.

And all for her.

Every time she thought about it, she couldn't help but wonder what would've happened had he not pushed her out of the way- her uniform, despite being her battle garb, did not remotely offer even the small kind of protection Lance's did.  
Pushing the thought out of her mind and focusing on the present once more, Kitty turned her attention back on Rogue.  
"But when did you absorb Lance?"

"The time Ah had that nightmare about Kurt and Mystique..." Rogue sighed. "Ah really hate this power sometimes."

"Well, try to look at it this way: at least it doesn't hurt you or anything," Kitty offered, attempting to cheer her friend up. It was only after she said the words that she realized what exactly she had said.

As Kitty fell silent, Rogue let out a soft sigh.  
"Ah don't know what's going on anymore."

* * *

"After the first time... I couldn't let him hurt them again, to stand aside and let it happen. I couldn't let him do that to them, not them. But I couldn't do anything to stop him. Mystique, Magneto, they were like him, and they were all on the same side. Even if they weren't backing him up, I don't know if I could've done anything... So... I... I... I can take a lot more hits than they can."

Strangely enough, despite the quieter volume, Lance's voice was firmer than before, and after a moment Logan realized that the deep-rooted devotion supporting his words was what made them stronger.

"Usually I can tell when he's just about ready to start something. He's easy to distract, once you get him aggravated. It's a system... I get in Sabertooth's way; I get him mad; he beats me up. The pattern's always the same," Lance murmured, his tone colder, no, more distant. Logan briefly wondered if the teen was still aware of his presence.  
"But he didn't touch anyone else, and that's all that matters." He seemed to have drifted off, and his eyes, still downcast, had gone unfocused.  
"It's... ironic... isn't it? I always lure him, baiting him like that, but he's the one that beats me up. Who wins there? I got what I planned, but so did he."

This was not one of the moods Logan had been expecting.  
By now he was ready for the following- angry and aggressive, depressed and defensive, skeptical and suspicious, protective and possessive, and now, even fearful and subdued. This new side of Lance was one Logan wasn't ready for. Before, even when he was depressed, Lance had retained his temper, ready to lash back.  
But at the present, he sounded completely devoid of emotion: anger, mirth, or anything else. The only slightest trace of feeling was the deep bitterness that mingled amidst the emptiness.

For the first time since the topic had been brought up, Lance seemed to once again acknowledge Logan's presence, looking up, though even now, his eyes would not meet Logan's. They had a glazed-over characteristic about them, but at the same time they were clearly lucid; hopelessness filled the voids.  
"He won, didn't he?"

* * *

Tabitha Smith sighed, leaning back in her chair. Her feet were propped up on her desk, and she was staring out the window.

"I know what you mean," Pietro muttered from next to her, glancing at the clock for the umpteenth time.  
"Time could not be going any slower. I'd say the clock was broken, but it is moving- at the pace of the deterioration of space. And on top of all that, I'm me! As if things aren't slow enough already."

"Yeah yeah, it's just as bad for me," Tabitha replied, turning to look at him. "Did you get into anything today?"

"What, me? Of course not," feigning an offended attitude, Pietro gave her a well-practiced indignant look.

"'Tro."

"Oh fine. I got mad at Daniels. But I didn't do anything; so stop going Lance on me. It's weird when you do it," he grinned.  
"It's like you're a mom or something," he snickered.

"Oh that's it, you're getting it for that," Tabitha smirked, accepting the joke.  
"But seriously, Pietro, if he bothers you that much, I'll tell him off for you. I mean, you do it all the time, but if he hears it from someone else, he'll probably go."

"Nah, it's just Daniels. I'm used to him being annoying. Besides, I guess I don't do my best at keeping him away either."

"Yeah, I guess..." Tabitha trailed off, knowing Pietro well enough to read in between the lines. "But the offer stands, Quickie."

"I'd make the same offer for you and whatever's going on between you and Rogue, but we're supposed to get along now," Pietro replied, half serious, half joking. The latter half disappeared however, when he noticed his friend's eyes darkening.  
"What the hell's between you two? Rogue says she doesn't even know."

"Do you believe her?" Tabitha asked, the question serving not only to get an answer but also to distract the white-haired boy from his own question.

Pietro shrugged. "I don't know... Hey... Tabby, want to hear something?" Without waiting for an answer he already knew, Pietro continued, though in an even lower voice this time.  
"I don't really trust her... just more so than the other X-Geeks."

The statement seemed to have caught Tabitha off-guard, though not as much as it might have.  
"Why not?"

"She's still an X-Geek. Lance says 'once a Brotherhood, always a Brotherhood', but I don't know. Todd and Freddy are just happy to get along; you and I both know that, even if other people don't. Me, I'm not so sure."

"So... you don't trust her because she's an X-Man? Wait, what about me? I was one, even if it was just for a little while," Tabitha replied, her tone playful but conveying a more solemn message behind it that she knew Pietro would pick up on.

"No, you're different," Pietro replied. "You... you fit with us. But, then again, you could fit anywhere, huh?"

That statement definitely caught her off-guard.  
"What?"

Pietro looked at her, not quite getting the reason for her surprise.  
"Well yeah, Tabby. You just could. I mean, the X-Geeks didn't really mind having you around, did they?"

Tabitha stared at him for a moment, not quite sure what to say to that.  
"Pietro..." she turned away, looking out the window and at the cerulean sky, rather than into the azure eyes of the speedster.  
"I don't fit there," she murmured to herself, the words barely audible.

Realizing that he had hit one of the chords that were meant to be missed, Pietro quickly changed the subject, offering her his short version of apology.  
"Anyhow, she doesn't get us. You do. Which is why you're one of us and she's one of them. They don't understand us," he paused. "And they have no sense of humor," he added after a moment, studying the girl for her reaction. He was relieved to see a grin break out across her features, and continued.  
"I think they're too much of geeks to understand the finer points of our pranks."

Turning back to Pietro, Tabitha grinned characteristically.  
"Well they still haven't seen even half of what we've got. Too bad we can't do anything today."

"Um, yeah, about that..."

Tabitha raised an eyebrow at Pietro, not sure if she wanted to ask this question.  
"...Pietro... did you do something?"

"Now that would depend on how you define-"

"Pietro, we were supposed to stay clean!" Tabitha snapped, though she couldn't raise her voice, since they weren't alone.

Pietro gave her an apologetic look, though he seemed far from feeling guilty.  
"But I couldn't resist! Anyhow, it was only on Matthews's moron gang... I trashed their lockers."

"Them? But we already had a fight with them."

"Yeah, but they started the fight."

Tabitha sighed. "Pietro."

"All right sorry, sorry. I still think I was right though," Pietro mumbled.

"Lance's going to get ticked off when he hears about the fight, so you'd better think of a good way to break the news," Tabitha replied, glancing at the clock.

"Got one already," Pietro grinned as he took out some candy, handing Tabitha a handful of the sweet confections as well.  
"I was dealing with locker trouble," he said through chocolate.

Tabitha rolled her eyes as she took off the cover of one of the taffy pieces and tossed it in her mouth.  
"Like that'll work. Who do you think he is, the X-Geeks?"

"Hey, good idea, I can use the same excuse on the X-Geeks if they find out and bother us about it."

"They probably know. Summers saw the fight, so the rest probably know about that. Freddy told me Rogue knows, so she knows for certain," she paused, turning from the clock to Pietro.  
"So what are you going to do about her, anyhow?"

"I don't know," Pietro admitted. "It's not like she'll be hanging around with us a lot, especially not after we leave. Why set yourself up, you know? Besides, I don't really trust her yet... she's still an X-Geek... I'm not sure how I feel about her. But I'm willing to give her another shot."

Nodding, Tabitha turned away, looking out the window once more.  
"...Second chances are rare in life..." she murmured quietly.

"Tabitha Smith! Pietro Maximoff! If you continue to disrupt this class with your side conversations, I will send you down to detention! Miss Smith, get your feet off the desk! Mr. Maximoff, there is no food allowed in this class, and that includes candy!"

Rolling their eyes, the two teens gave each other a well-used look.

They highly doubted that anyone was paying them any attention; they were far enough in the back of the class that they couldn't really hear the others either, at least not without trying.

Plus they were the only two in the far corner, and thus isolated- another factor contributing to the dubiousness of their actions 'disrupting the class'.

Lastly, if anyone was bothering to listen in on other people's conversations, it was improbable that anyone would be listening to theirs, since there was much more 'interesting' gossip going around in the class, and openly at that. That was one of the few things they liked about this school. No one bothered to pay any attention to them unless it was for a fight, so they actually had a fair amount of privacy, all things considered.

A silver lining to every cloud, possibly- though frankly, that theory didn't work out so well in their lives.

Even now they were being singled out for incrimination, when practically the entire class was responsible for the same acts. 'Practically', because a few X-Geeks also happened to be in the class, and they were usually good at paying attention to whatever mechanical information the teacher was feeding them.

Nonetheless, Pietro scooped the candy up, tossing the handful back into his bag, and Tabitha took her feet off the desk. They smirked at seeing the shocked expression cross the teacher's face, realization dawning on her- that her threat of detention had seemingly worked, but unable to process the information.

Silver lining indeed.

* * *

"...he won. They all did."

Logan looked at the battered boy with deep concern in his eyes, no longer trying to hide it, as subconsciously as it may have been.  
At first he was overrun with fury, his anger at Sabertooth, Mystique, and Magneto nothing like it had ever been before. But seeing Lance, Logan realized that now was not the time to plot revenge, but to try to help the casualties.  
"No. You survived. You beat him. You won."

Lance's gaze dropped once more, but this time it was not out of fear, but because he didn't have the will or strength to face the other.  
"...I...I don't believe you."

"You have to."

"...I'm going to die soon, aren't I?"

Logan took a second to recover from the sudden change in topic.  
"No, you'll make it through this."

"...I don't..."

"You don't believe me. I know. But you're going to have to give me a chance here. Believe that if you're not going to believe anything else I say. That and this- I will never do what Sabertooth did to you."

"...I," Lance started, but stopped, shaking his head, more to himself than anything else.  
...Can I have an aspirin?"

Raising an eyebrow, wondering for a second if this was to change the subject or if he simply needed more medication, Logan nodded and got up, walking to the medicine cabinet.

* * *

"Freedom!" Evan declared as he dropped his skateboard, snapping on his helmet. At long last the school bell had rung, and the school hours were over. The only thing left to do was enjoy the day.  
"I'm going to hit the ramps; catch you later!"

"Evan! Wait!"

Disappointed to be delayed, Evan turned to Jean.  
"What?"

"Don't you think we should stay near home today?" Jean said, nodding towards the end of the sidewalk, where the Brotherhood was talking.

"But... do I have to? It's not like Maximoff and I even get along."

"Aren't you curious about vhat's going on vith Lance?" Kurt asked.

"Not enough to stay around Pietro," Evan mumbled.  
Nonetheless he picked up his skateboard once more, and waited with the rest of the X-Men as Rogue, then Kitty, and lastly Scott, exited from the school building.

"Hey guys, sorry I took so long. Had to stay after class to discuss an English paper. Did anything happen with the Brotherhood?"

Kitty shook her head in response to Scott's question.  
"No- can we go? I'm really worried about Lance."

"Yeah, sorry," Scott apologized once more, but paused at noticing the Brotherhood on the sidewalk.

Realizing what was on his mind, Jean put a hand on his shoulder.  
"Scott, maybe we should offer them a ride."

"Do you think so too?"

"Forget it, I'm not getting a ride back with them!" Evan exclaimed.

"Evan, why can't yah at least try tah get along?" Rogue rolled her eyes. "The rest of us are."

"Hey, that's my business. Look, Pietro and I have some bad history- he wouldn't want to get in the same car with me either."

"Maybe it's time to change that, Evan," Jean suggested.

Evan shook his head. "It's not something I can change. Can we drop this?"

"Never mind, I don't think it matters anymore- they like, already left," Kitty cut in, nodding towards the empty sidewalk.  
"I don't think they would've wanted a ride anyhow."

"Maybe ve should get going, zen," Kurt said.

Scott nodded, heading for his car. "Yeah. Come on, let's go."

* * *

After handing the earth-shaking teen a couple capsules, not wanting to risk anything by handing him the whole bottle, and a cup of water, Logan turned back around to put the medicine away.  
All through out, he kept a worried eye on Lance, wondering if he should call Charles or Ororo or Hank down, or if that would only have the teen fall into a relapse of the day's previous incident once more.

Lance silently took the pills, so used to it that the action no longer even required effort.

It wasn't till Logan headed back and reached his seat that Lance spoke again.

"...It's..." he paused, and Logan wondered if there would be any possible way to prepare himself with a good answer for whatever was coming next.  
"...It's almost time for school to end."

* * *

It hadn't been easy.

Waiting for school to end; actually staying in classes; not pulling any pranks... but at long last, school was over.  
And the Brotherhood was headed back for the Xavier Institute, first running, and then walking when they could no longer run.  
Pietro, to his later partial dismay, had decided to walk with them instead of going ahead, not wanting to leave them behind.

They had decided to talk about this whole school idea, and make some kind of arrangement so that at least one of the Brotherhood members could stay with Lance during his recovery.

They had taken a secluded route, lest the X-Men pass by, and when they reached the mansion, they noted with some dislike that the original inhabitants had gotten there first. But then again, they had taken cars, so it wasn't too big of a surprise.

The four walked past the gate, a little surprised that it opened so easily for them.  
It was only then that they noticed the figure standing by the door, leaning partially against the wall. Seeing them, he pushed off the wall and made his way towards them.

For some reason, time went a lot slower as the Brotherhood regrouped, everyone talking at the same time to give news of what had happened during the day and get their friend up-to-date.  
Listening to them and watching them talk animatedly as they described and then, feeling the need to show him more accurately what had happened, acted out the fight, Lance smiled.


	25. Chapter 25 Yesterday, everything was dif...

**Chapter 25. Yesterday, everything was different.**

"And dont get in any fights with Spyke!" Lance reminded as the speedster, to whom the statement was addressed, and the two other brothers of the Brotherhood left the room.

"Yeah yeah, dont worry," Pietro mumbled, waving a hand behind him as he closed the door.

"Arent you going with them?" Lance asked, turning to Tabitha, who had decided to take up the desk and chair, sitting with her feet up.

Tabitha shook her head. "Nah. Not hungry. Besides, having me around makes Pietro more defensive. Dont argue- he gets defensive when any one of us is around; we all know that. Better he only have Todd and Fred with him. Less to defend."

Not having expected the detailed and exceptionally frank explanation, Lance raised an eyebrow, studying the only sister of the Brotherhood. "Tabby?"

"Besides, I need to talk to you," Tabitha stated, continuing as if he hadnt spoken. Taking her feet off the desk, she turned, getting up.  
"You have to tell me whats going on. Whats really going on."

"Tabby."

"Lance," arms crossed, Tabitha looked at him. "I mean it."

"You already know everything thats going on," Lance assured as he took a seat on his bed.

Narrowing her eyes, Tabitha stared into Lances eyes for a moment before abruptly turning, heading for the other bed in the room and sitting down.  
"Im dropping out of school."

That took Lance off-guard. And immediately had him jumping up to his feet, staring at Tabitha with wide eyes.  
"WHAT?! NO!"

"Why?" Tabitha demanded, crossing her arms once more.

"Because! Why the hell would you?"

"Face it Lance- its not going to do anything for me and Im wasting my time."

"Thats not true and you know it!"

"And you know that I know you too well for you to lie to me and get away with it!" Standing up, Tabitha stepped closer, her eyes furious- but also worried.  
"Damn it Lance! Tell me whats going on!"

"I cant!" Lance snapped, losing control. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed angrily.  
"Everything is fine."

"Lance! This is me youre talking to! I know everything about you! Dont lie to me! Dont tell me youre fine when youre obviously not!"

"Im fine Tabby! End of discussion!"  
With the last shout, Lance turned around, heading for the door. But a surprisingly strong grasp grabbed him by the hand, jerking him back.

"No. Beginning of discussion," Tabitha stated, her tone dropping. She let go of his hand, knowing that he would not leave yet.  
"Tell me whats going on."

Glaring, Lance clenched his fists.  
"Dont do this, Tabby."

Tabithas eyes softened a little, but the determination did not decrease.  
"I have to, Lance."

"Theres nothing to talk about!"

"Stop lying!"

"Leave me alone, Tabby!"

"I cant!"

"Damn it, Tabby! Leave me alone! Leave me the hell alone!"  
Lance shouted, swerving around for the exit. Her hand caught him again, though it was more softly this time.

"I cant Lance. The last time I did... I cant let you do that to yourself."

"Im fine! Now let go!" Lance snapped, turning around. "Leave me alone!"

"I cant!"

"Tabby let go! Leave me alone! **Leave me alone**!"

"Lance! Tell me whats going on! Trust me!"

"**DAMN IT, TABBY! IM DYING!**"

* * *

Drawing in a sharp breath, eyes wide open, Tabitha stepped back, staring at Lance in shock and disbelief.

Realizing what he had said, Lances eyes widened, and he shook his head fervently.  
"I didnt mean that. Tabby, I didnt mean that."

Unable to speak, unable to do anything, Tabitha simply collapsed, falling to her knees in stunned silence.

Lance was immediately by her side, putting his hands on her shoulders, searching her eyes for some sign of recognition. He received none- her eyes were blank, devoid of life itself.

"No, no; I didnt mean it Tabby. I didnt mean it," he drew her closer, hugging her gently, hoping for some response. Any response.  
He received none.

"Please Tabby, say something, do something. Anything. Anything."

Powerless, he shook her in desperation, before falling back to an embrace, willing her to wake, wishing for a response, any response.

At last he got one.

Slowly pulling away, Tabitha stared at him, her eyes stunned into empty paralysis.  
"...I have to go."  
Pushing away from him, she got up.

Lance looked at her, following her with swiftness only granted by necessity.  
"Please Tabby- let me explain."

"Youre dying. Whats so hard to understand about that?" Tabitha replied without emotion, striding towards the door.

"No, its not like that. Theres more to it, just let me explain. It sounds horrible, but-"

"It doesnt matter Lance!" Tabitha swerved around.  
"It doesnt matter," she stated, her voice emotionless once more.  
Turning back to the door, she opened it. "I have to go for a walk."

"Tabby, wait! Tabby!"

Lance slammed his fists onto the wall in a mixture desolate anger and despair as the door closed.

* * *

"Pietro, do you have a minute?"

A little surprised at the unexpected request, Pietro turned to the weather witch with a scowl.  
"What?"

"I would like to talk to you."

Glancing at Fred and Todd with a I dont know what its about either shrug, he nodded for them to go ahead to the kitchen before turning his attention on Ororo once more.  
"About what?"

"You."

"Im gone."

"Pietro, wait."

Something about her voice made him stop.  
"What do you want?"

"Just to talk to you," Ororo assured. "All of this cant be easy on you."

Pietro shrugged indifferently.  
"Same for me as anyone else- Todd, Fred, and Tabby can handle it, and so can I."

"But no one else has connections like you do," Ororo pointed out gently. "What happened between you and Evan, two years ago?"

"That has nothing to do with you. Look, you might be his aunt and everything, but that doesnt give you the right to intrude on what happened between us."

"You used to be such close friends, Pietro."

"Yeah? Well were enemies now, arent we? Lay off," with that Pietro turned, heading for the kitchen.

Watching the white-haired boy storm off, Ororo sighed.

After Logans talk with Lance, the four adults of the Institute had held a brief discussion on the mental welfare of the Brotherhood members. For Lance wasnt the only one to be worried about, though he was by far one requiring most caution out of them all at the present, taking into consideration the circumstances and situation.  
Logan had decisively agreed to be in charge of looking out for Lance; and Ororo had wanted to try to help Pietro, having a little history with him as well as the connection he had with Evan. Hank would be approaching Todd and Fred- it seemed useless to split up the two when they were usually together. Charles had concerns over Tabithas willingness to open up to anyone, as she was actually quite reserved, despite all appearances, but knowledge of this only made him more determined to try.  
It wasnt that they would ignore the rest of the Brotherhood, with the exception of their focuses. But with such a delicate case, it seemed wise to make sure each of the teens were looked after at all times.

Watching the teen walk off, Ororo sighed once more.

It was going to be difficult, trying to reach them. The Brotherhood still saw them as the enemy. And on top of that, Ororo had a feeling that they had a lot more concerns and problems than they let on, and their troubled pasts would only hinder the process of gaining trust.

* * *

"I lost her. I cant believe I lost her."

Dejected, Lance sighed and leaned heavily against the wall to his side.

"Lance?"

The one voice that had the power to make him feel like things would be all right. That things could get better.

Lance turned, pushing away from the wall. "Hey Kitty."

"Lance? Are you okay? You look really tired."

"I am kind of tired. Listen, Kitty, have you seen Tabby anywhere?"

"No- why? Whats the matter?"

"Nothing," Lance sighed.

"Lance?" Walking over, Kitty gently took his hand in hers. "Whats wrong?"

How can I answer that question... one of my only four best friends is off by herself somewhere, and before she left, she looked at me like she was going to... like she was going to...  
Lance shook his head, trying to rid his mind of his thoughts. Starting to walk, he answered without meeting her eyes.  
"Nothings wrong. Im fine."

Looking at him, concern vivid in her eyes, Kitty walked beside him. "Lance, youre making me worried..."

"Im sorry," Lance sighed. "Im fine. Really."

"Do you want to talk?"

"Thats all right."

"Lance... you dont have to be the strong one all the time you know."

At those words, Lance stopped, turning to her. "What?"

Kitty smiled softly. "You dont. And its okay to want to talk to someone else."

"...Kitty..."

* * *

"Hey kid."

Tabitha didnt even turn around, and did not bother to reply, sitting silently on the edge of the cliff. Her knees pulled close against her, she merely wrapped her arms around herself more tightly.

"Tabitha, are you all right?"

Getting no response, the two X-Men looked at each other for a moment before stepping closer. Leaving Hank and Ororo inside, Logan and Charles had made their way outside, to find Tabitha and talk to her. Charles had picked up extreme emotions around Lance and Tabitha, but especially the latter, to his surprise- Tabitha had always been unusually good at covering up her feelings and hiding her thoughts.

* * *

"Do you want to know how I got my powers?"

Sitting on the balcony over looking the rocky shore end of the institute grounds, Kitty was more than thrilled to have Lance talking to her like this; it wasn't often he talked about himself, preferring to talk about her or listen to her talk instead. And now, with him offering to share his past, she was both surprised and grateful- but at the same time worried, wondering what could have been so bad for Lance to finally need her, and to let her in.

"Of course! You never told me before."

"I dont like to think about it, but its been on my mind lately, with everything thats been going on. Its not a pretty story, Kitty."

"I want to hear it. I want to know more about you."

"Okay," Lance sighed. "Well I was on the streets when my powers emerged; I was eight then. Well, eight and a few months. Before you ask- I ran away before that happened, so I was alone. My powers showed up at a weird stage in my life, but when I think about it, that probably saved me. Anyhow, I didnt know what was happening at first- and I didnt realize for a while, even after that, that I created earthquakes. It took a while for me to get used to it. And I got headaches from that too- a lot in the beginning. It got better as I got better with my powers," another sigh escaped him. "Of course, that was all before Bayville. I didnt even know there were others like me until I met you. I thought I was just some weird freak, you know?"

"Lance," taking his hand, she held it in hers. "Dont feel that way."

"Well yeah, I dont anymore. Now Im just one freak out of many- and if you think about it, thats kind of a contradiction right there. Kind of ironic too."

"Tell me what happened with your foster parents," Kitty suggested, attempting to change the subject.

"Them?" Lance paused, looking at her. "I dont think I should," he concluded after a moment of consideration.

Confused, Kitty cocked her head. "Why not?"

Lance shrugged. "Its even less prettier than the story about my powers. Itll only make you depressed."

"Lance, I want to know everything about you- your present and your past."

"Well... all right. But only for you, Pretty Kitty," Lance smiled a little, but it faded as he continued to talk. "My real parents- and I dont consider them that, by the way- left me when I was five. I ended up in an orphanage in Chicago, but since I was young and all, I got adopted pretty quickly. I was five and a half when... these people took me. At first I thought it was going to be all right; I was five, but I didnt think my parents were coming back for me, so I was happy to get someone, anyone, you know?" here he paused, looking at her again.  
"You really want to hear this? It doesnt matter, really."

"Lance," moving his hand, she sat closer to him, leaning slightly on him. "Your past is a part of you."

Putting his arm around her, Lance nodded a little. "If you say so," he sighed.  
"Well the couple that took me... lets just say they shouldnt be allowed to take any kid, ever. I learned to spend as much time outside my home as possible. It wasnt till I was eight that Social Services found out what was going on, and took me back to the orphanage. By then I was already known as a troublemaker- I was stealing stuff and getting into a few fights on the streets. Plus theres some prejudice against foster kids, and people didnt like dirty little kids like me- I wasnt exactly the most hygienic kid around back then."

Leaning closer to him, Kitty took his free hand in hers once more. Lance didnt seem to take notice of this, staring out across the ocean.

"But then I found out that my so-called foster parents were going to actually sue for the right to keep me. And... well, I wasnt exactly the most well liked kid either. People didnt think I was worth the trouble to save. So I ran away. Thats when my powers manifested. It wasnt too bad, living on the streets. But I guess I dont know too well, because I was caught a few months later. They sent me back to the orphanage. Around my ninth year, the state turned me over to those people again. So I was right after all. Weird isnt it? Im never right. I was their property until a little after my sixteenth birthday. Social Services and my parole officer got together and pulled me out. They sent me to another foster home, and that one was all right, I guess. But I was only there for a few months, because there was another new arrival, and no room for me. I stayed in juvie for a while, because there was nowhere else to go. Then I went to Northbrook. And from there you know."


	26. Chapter 26 Zero to Infinity

**Chapter 26. Zero to Infinity.**

"This isn't fair," Todd murmured, glaring at a random carton of milk for a second longer before he slammed the door to the fridge closed.

"What isn't fair?" Fred looked over, taking a drink from his soda.

"Everything yo!" Todd exclaimed. "...It just hit me Freddy! The X-Men get to live in this huge mansion and everything, right? They don't gotta worry about bills and that stuff, right? None of them has to work all the time like Lance does for us or anything, right?"

"Right," Fred nodded, putting the can down as Todd let out a frustrated sigh.

"I mean, look at their kitchen! There are stacks of food here and stuff, yo! And we barely got anything at home. We probably won't even have water next month! Again!"

"But... it's always been like this, Todd. It's just the way things are."

"I know, I know. But Fred! It's not fair! It's not like I really mind any of that so much, I mean, this is the best I've had all my life, yo! I like living with you guys and the way things are. But this isn't fair! All that other stuff, we can live with that, it's all cool. I mean, it's not like we're not used to it. It's really the best we're gonna get, you know? But why should Lance be sick, when we already have all the other stuff! Why can't it be the X-Men for once? Why does it always gotta be us, yo? Why us?"

* * *

"Lance..."  
Unable to say anything else, Kitty just hugged him. "I'm so sorry."

Wrapping his arms around her, Lance pulled her closer, uncertainty showing in his slight tremble. He wasn't sure how he noticed that his shirt was slowly dampening, Kitty in his arms. "...I didn't mean to make you cry..."

Silence asperse, no more words were passed.

* * *

"Hey Boom Boom, you all right kid?"  
Raising an eyebrow at her silence, Logan glanced back at Charles for a moment before trying again. "Tabitha, you all right?"

"...I'm fine."

The two words were like stone, heavy yet dulled. A little taken aback by the lack of emotion in her voice, Logan looked at her, stepping closer and kneeling down next to her, partially to his own surprise. "Doesn't look like it."

"Looks can be deceiving. Leave me alone, Logan."

Now he knew for certain something was not right. All other things aside, she had called him by his name. His name, of all things. Not even Wolverine at that, but Logan. Coming back to the rest of the scene, the sentence before his name took him off guard- it wasn't the kind of a sentence he didn't expect Tabitha of all people to be saying.

"...What's wrong?" he finally asked, for once wishing that he had better ways of phrasing things; preferably ways to put this into something resembling those nice little comforting talks that Ororo, Hank and Charles were always giving the kids.

* * *

"Who does she think she is! She has no right, no right to ask! She doesn't even know abou-"

Pietro's thoughts were interrupted when he walked into something- in all his rage he had- while managing to storm around instead of zoom around- not been paying much attention to where he was going.

"Hey! Watch it, Pietro!"  
Walked into someone, actually.

Tearing away from his thoughts, Pietro Maximoff glared at the source of the voice.  
"You watch it, Daniels!"

Evan was actually a little thrown off by the anger in the white haired teen's voice.  
"Hey, you walked into me!" he retorted.

"Prove it," Pietro snapped, roughly pushing past the other boy.  
What the statement lacked in substance, it more than made up in viciousness.

Definitely taken aback by the acidic tone, Evan could only stare as Pietro walked off.

* * *

"...I-I don't know."

"It ain't fair man!"

"...I know."

Only then noticing his friend's quieted voice, as well as the change in his expression, now downcast, Todd stared helplessly at him- looking for answers that weren't present. After a moment he looked away, his gaze falling. "It's not fair," he let out a soft breath, anger melting away into somber grief. "I'm sorry Freddy, I didn't mean to blow up at you like that yo. I just, I just-" shaking his head, Todd sighed angrily, burying his head in his hands.

"...Todd..."

Looking at him, Fred suddenly wished everything would just... disappear. That everything would be all right again.

* * *

"What's wrong?"  
There was something she had been wondering all her life- what **was** wrong with her?  
She couldn't answer.  
So she lied, as she always did.  
"...Nothing."

First Lance, now Tabitha.  
Logan was really beginning to think that he needed to learn more about this whole counseling deal. And that the Brotherhood had a lot of stuff they didn't know about. Well, for now he had Charles, which was far better than trying to do this alone. Glancing back, he was actually relieved to see the telepath nodding, guessing Logan's anxiety and moving closer.  
"Tabitha, would you like to go inside now?"

"...Do I get a choice?"

"Yes, of course."

"No."

* * *

"Kitty, are you okay?"

"Yes," Kitty wiped away the last traces of tears; eyes still red but dry now. "I can't believe I cried like that," she attempted a smile, but it was in vain. "I should be the one comforting you, Lance."

"No, it doesn't matter anymore," Lance took her hand, moving it away from her eyes and putting it down. "It all happened a long time ago. I don't even think about it now. It's all right, Kitty."

"But Lance, you, you... you've had such a..."

"No, not really. It's not as bad as the guys have it. At least I've had time to get over it. I mean... Todd and Fred just try not to think about it, but they... they really have a lot to deal with. Pietro still hasn't told Todd and Fred everything, and I think I'm the only one who knows all the details. Tabby... I don't even know about Tabby. She never talks about it. The only time she told me anything at all was this one night, and she was kind of out of it then. I don't think she really realized it was me she was talking to, or even notice that she wasn't alone."

"...You all...you all had to go through... this?" Her voice barely made it to Lance's ears, but he looked away.

"Well, not exactly the same thing..." he paused, unconsciously leaning closer to Kitty. There was a brief pause before he continued, his voice quieter. "Fred... Freddy's parents were cops. He found out about... about the accident in the morning after. He was twelve. He thought they were still sleeping in from a long night, but... the news was going on about it. Freddy's parents... they were at a robbery. The guy had a gun, and... that was the end of it."

* * *

"...Sorry Freddy. Let's get out of here, yo. Some X-Geeks might come in."

"...Yeah... maybe we should go see what Lance and Tabby are doing. Pietro probably went back by himself already."

"Yeah... Fred?"

"Yeah Todd?"

"I don't want to think about it anymore."

"...Me neither."

* * *

"Why-should-she-get-to-know-anything! She-doesn't-know-anything! She-can't-ask-me! She-has-no-right! She'll-never-understand! He-never-understood!"

After stumbling into one of the gyms, Pietro had taken to punching the living- well, non-living- daylights out of one of the punching bags, ranting incoherently in anger.

"None-of-them-ever-understood! They-never-cared! Why-should-I-care! Why-should-I-have-to-tell-them-anything! Why-should-I-explain-anything! Why-should-I-care!"

The fact that the punching bag was now sporting serious tears unregistered in his mind, nor the fact that a little blood from the scratches decorated his fists, Pietro continued to take his anger out on the bag.

"She-has-no-right! He-has-no-right!"

_"You don't understand!" _

_"Well maybe I would if you would just talk to me instead of avoiding me!" _

_"Back off, Daniels!" _

* * *

"There you are, Evan."

The resident skateboarder turned at the sound of his aunt's voice. The friendly voice cheered him up a bit; despite the fact that he was quite messed up right now, and he wasn't even really sure what he was feeling. What he wanted to feel, to be more precise.  
"What's up, Auntie O?"

"I was looking for you. Evan, we need to talk."

'Oh damn,' the voice in Evan's head rang true.  
"Uh... can we maybe talk later? After dinner or something? I'm feeling kind of tired; long day at school and-"

"I'm sorry Evan, but I think we should talk now. It's important, and I don't think we should put it off any longer."

'Put it off any longer? Wait, what was this about?'  
"What?"  
'Way to phrase it, Evan.'

Closing the door behind her, the aunt walked over and took a seat in front of him.  
"Evan, it's about Pietro."

"P-Pietro!"  
'...Smooth, real smooth.'  
"But...WHY!"  
'Reeeal smooth.'  
He had nothing else to say. He just stared at her.

"Evan."

"But Auntie O!"

"Evan, you can't let what happened in the past control your entire future."

"I know that!" Evan burst out. "...I know that... but... but it's too late."

"Evan," something about her voice, the way she said his name, made him look up again.

"It's never too late."

* * *

"...Maybe we should've brought something for them," Fred murmured as the pair walked down the hall slowly.

"Maybe...Quickie can get something though."

"Yeah..."

"...Do you think Lance'll let us stay here tomorrow? Instead of going to school?"

"Maybe... I don't want to leave him all alone though."

"Yeah..."

"...Todd-" Fred cut short abruptly at the sight of one particular huge furry blue man.

"Just the people I was looking for," Hank smiled at the two boys. "How are you?"

There was a significant pause before the two Brotherhood boys responded.

"Um... okay," Fred replied for both of them.

"We're just going back to our rooms," Todd explained, a bit quickly.

"Well, I was hoping we could talk for a moment."

"We?" Fred echoed.

"Like... me, Freddy, and you?" Todd elaborated.

"Yes, us three," Hank answered, abandoning his rather habitual act of correcting the kids' grammar for now.

"Uh... why? Is this about Lance?"

"And if it is, don't you have to talk to Lance, yo?"

"It's not about Lance," Hank assured. "I'd just like to talk to you."

"...okay..." Fred answered uneasily.

"Do we have to?"

"Well, no, but it won't take long."

The two looked at each other with obvious uncertainty, though both tried to keep other emotions at bay.

"...okay."

* * *

There was a long duration of silence before anyone said anything again. To the surprise of the two X-Men, it was Tabitha who spoke at last.

"I don't need or want to talk, especially to you. Take care of your X-Men," she got up, turning around to look at them.  
"The Brotherhood isn't yours to worry about," she started back inside the mansion, not giving them room to respond, not that they could.  
"Leave us alone if you can't help Lance. We're none of your business," she didn't look at them, but that made it worse.

"You made sure of that a long time ago."

* * *

"Todd's an orphan too. His dad died in a car crash when he was eight. He wasn't there, but his mom was. She... she drank a lot after that. She died a year later... drug overdose... Todd spent most of the time after that at an orphanage... then he got moved... some 'correctional facility'," Lance's voice trembled in anger at the name that mocked him so, but his tone fell back to calm, nearly chilling levels.

Kitty wasn't sure she had him any longer.

He was distant once more, and the vague flickers of emotion had died down in his eyes- again he was staring out at nothing in particular, almost as if he was searching for something, but unable to.  
Wanting to search for something, but unable to.

"...He still has nightmares about it."

He paused, still looking out onto the waters.  
Not even knowing what he was looking at.

"We all do."

* * *

_"Back off Daniels!" _

_"I don't want to back off, Pietro! Stop blocking me out! I want to know what's going on!" _

_"Shut up! You won't understand! Just leave me alone! You won't understand! You can't, you won't, help!" _

He didn't know when they started falling. His eyes were shut tight, trying to force everything away, but they kept falling anyhow. His rage gave way and he crumbled to his knees, tears streaking down his face.

"Nobody..."

* * *

"Well it wasn't that bad."

"It could have been worse."

Scott nodded to Jean's words- it really could have been. It was important to look on the brighter side of these things.

"And zey haven't done any damage since after school," Kurt added.

"Ah think it was actually a pretty good day, all things considered," Rogue commented.

"Yeah, it isn't as if we've had any fights with zem. That's more zan ve can say most of ze time."

"We've more or less avoided each other though. It's a start, but we're going to have to start doing more if we want change."

"But we also can't just suddenly try to change things," Jean replied to the sunglasses-wearing teen.

"And the day's not over- we still have dinner left," Rogue reminded, casting a shadow over all four for a brief moment.

"Let's just try to keep Evan and Pietro away," Scott paused, for yet another time that day- he didn't even know how many times it had been now, he had long since lost count- recalling the way Lance had looked that morning: watching out from a window as they all left for school, the X-Men and the Brotherhood.

Regardless of the fact that he was pretty sure Lance would have scowled had he realized Scott was looking at him, Scott couldn't forget the look.  
A look of complete fatigue, he had realized during the day.  
Not just a day of being tired. His health had deteriorated significantly during the past several months, and Scott wasn't sure when the dark circles under the rock tumbler's eyes had surfaced.

Or why he hadn't seen it till now.

Maybe Lance had always just kept too thick an act for Scott to ever notice it.  
Maybe it was because he had never seen Lance off guard like that before.  
But the voice in his mind told him it wasn't just that.  
Maybe he hadn't seen it because he had never wanted to, or cared to.

"Scott?"

Kurt's voice brought him back.  
"Sorry, I was thinking about something."

"Jean was just saying," Rogue informed, leaving the statement open for the other girl to continue.

"I just said we're all going to have to be... calm, during dinner. All of us. They could be offended by something we didn't mean, but if we yell back, we'll just go back to before."

Scott nodded to her words, knowing that it was meant for all of them, but a little more so him. He didn't want to tell her now, not when Kurt and Rogue were also here, but later he planned to talk over this whole thing in private with Jean. Maybe she could help him out with the whole thing- Jean was usually calmer than he was when it came to the Brotherhood, Lance especially.

* * *

'No regrets, no guilt... Boom Boom, if they don't help Lance anymore because of you, what are you going to do? No, they wouldn't do that... even if they weren't the 'good' guys like they are, they still wouldn't, just to save face. But they are, so it doesn't matter... if they don't, what are you going to do? What are you going to do, Tabby? What can you do? But why does it matter? You don't do responsibilities. You don't do guilt. You **can't** do guilt! You don't do responsibilities! What guilt? What regret? What guilt? What? No... no guilt. Not for anything... not for anything...'

Tabitha shook her head, banning the solitary conversation from her mind.  
"And they actually ask me if I'm crazy..."she murmured, smirking at the notion, but not for long. It was almost never that she could act to herself, and this time was no different than the usual.

Slamming the door open, she stepped inside, and it was only after she slammed the door again, this time to shut it, that she realized the gym was already occupied.

All traces of her previous chaos disappeared, and she stared for a second before she made her way over to him.

"Pietro..."

* * *

"Aren't we... not allowed in here?"

"Not at all. Although I'd prefer that you ask me before you come in, and try not to move too many things around."

"Oh..." Todd looked around the lab, strangely fascinated, despite his head telling him that he shouldn't be.

The machines and charts and all other medical things didn't throw Fred off guard however- not nearly as much, anyhow. He was more used to them- big machines anyhow. He was still trying to figure out what it was this guy wanted from them, and wondering when they should pull out. Admittedly though, he still wanted to know what all these things did.

"What do you do with all this? Can you even use all of them?"

"Well, I hardly use them all at once. Would either of you care for something to drink?"

Both Fred and Todd turned, a little perplexed, until they saw the small tray with a pot on a warmer, some tea bags, coffee, cups, and similar objects on it.

"You spend a lot of time here, don't you," Todd said without thinking about it.

"I just don't like to leave in the middle of things," Hank chuckled. "But I suppose I do spend quite a bit of time in here. Hot chocolate?"

"Um..." Fred paused, looking at Hank for a moment before nodding. He glanced at Todd quickly, trying not to be noticeable in his actions. He succeeded, at least in the case of the younger teen. "Okay."

"Me too, yo."

* * *

He had gotten up in the blink of an eye at the opening slam of the door, ready to lash out at whoever was daring to enter, taking a step back, almost into the wall. But the hostility crumbled when he saw who it was.

"Pietro..."

And he felt himself slide down, back against the wall, back down on the floor of the gym.

He didn't resist the arm she put around him, letting her draw him closer, leaning into her.

He didn't try to hold them back, not to her. Ever since one particular night, she was the second of the only two people he allowed himself to break down in front of. And right now, he wasn't sure that he even could have held back, regardless of who it was.

"I'm here..." Tabitha murmured, pulling him closer so that he was leaning on her shoulder.

* * *

"...I shouldn't have told you," Lance sighed.

It had been a few minutes until Lance had snapped back to attention, realizing all that he had said. He had immediately stopped then; not because he didn't trust Kitty, but because it wasn't in his right to talk of _their_ pasts.

It had taken a long time before they had told each other, and even now, not all of them were completely free with their pent up history; he himself hadn't even had the guts to tell them everything. Tabitha never mentioned anything after the sole exclusion of that single time while with him.

Kitty looked at him, no words to comfort him. They were only teenagers... just like her.

But things were so different.

Too different for her to even be able to attempt to comfort him in the way they could, for each other.

"...Lance..."

"...I...I'll see you at dinner, okay?" Lance got up, turning away.

As he headed for the door, Kitty got up. "Lance wait, please."  
Automatically he stopped, though he didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry..."

It's not your fault, don't apologize, Kitty."

"...I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. That you couldn't talk to me before."

"...You don't have to be. It's all right. I don't mind... but don't tell anybody about the guys... promise me? ...I wasn't- Ishouldn't have told anyone..."

"I won't, Lance. And I want to be there for you, even if you don't always need me there. You try to be there for me, don't you?"

"But it's not the same thing-"

"No... it's not... but I can try, can't I?"

It was only then that he turned to face her.  
"Kitty, you are there for me... I couldn't have told anyone else about any of this, not this way. So... thanks."

The word felt awkward to him. He rarely used it.  
But he didn't know how else to say it.

It was different from when he talked to the Brotherhood. Even if he was protective of Kitty, as he was with the Brotherhood, he didn't have to worry about Kitty breaking down on him, he didn't have to worry about her health- physical and mental- constantly. It was a small difference that had made it easier for him to talk about things, the few times he did, as much as he avoided the ditches and merely circled around safer subjects. She was there for him in ways she didn't know.

"I...I'll see you at dinner," he murmured hastily, leaving the room with only hints of grace- not because of the previous reasons, or even the cast on his leg, but the tinge of clumsiness granted solely by those amidst the trials of a Romeo and Juliet.

* * *

"Remember what I told you?"

"I wouldn't forget."

"I know. Still."

"I remember."

"You know the part I left out?"

"Intentionally or subconsciously?"

"...Intentionally."

"...Yeah."

"We had a big fight... I just blew up at him. I took everything out on him. It wasn't his fault. I just blew up. I couldn't control myself. I was too... too... well, you know."

"...I know."

"After everything, I just couldn't hold it in. I didn't mean to..."

"Pietro..."

"I was so... mad... I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand it any longer... and he was so... he tried to understand... but I couldn't explain. I just... I couldn't explain then... I just... I just... shit, Tabby I can't even explain now... I didn't want to lose him too... he was the only friend I had. I never meant to take it out on him... but... he... he couldn't... he couldn't understand!"

She just held him, shaking and sobbing, knowing that she couldn't do anything more.

* * *

Drinking hot chocolate in the lair of the enemy.

Not exactly in the rulebook of 'how to deal' situations Mystique might've- should've, really, it would've made it easier to not do the understated stuff she didn't like- handed out.

Hard to believe as it was however, Todd and Fred weren't really looking for a book with answers at the moment. Even they didn't know why, but it felt okay to just be themselves, or at least close to.  
Many of their defenses had melted away as the marshmallows in their creamy drink had. The walls down, they were asking questions on some of the medical equipment and what Hank did in the lab.

Avoiding talk of Lance's health was easier subconsciously than when they were really trying to. Now they were on their second cups, Fred on the third, and rapidly learning about some basic medical procedures, as well as having a side discussion on the importance of having fire extinguishers at hand. Multiple fire extinguishers at hand.

It was weird, but he wasn't as alarming a presence as the other X-Men were.

Maybe it was because he wasn't asking them a million questions at once.  
Maybe it was because he wasn't trying to make them do something, or even to tell him something.  
Maybe it was because he had hot chocolate in his... lab-slash-office-place.  
They didn't know why, but they were too used to not knowing the whys to be bothered by it.

It was weird, but he was actually kind of okay.

* * *

Reality hit him hard the moment he closed the door behind him.

He had forgotten about Tabitha.

Now, he didn't even know where to look. She always did have a knack for disappearing when she was sought out. And not appearing again until she was comfortable.  
He couldn't risk waiting that long.

He started running, ignoring the objections of his broken leg.  
Possibly the only thing that could have stopped him at the time showed up, as if on schedule.  
Turning the corner, he entered the hall where Logan and Charles stood, talking to each other in quiet voices. Lance's presence didn't go unnoticed however, despite the engaging talk, and they turned around as he walked up, having slowed down.

"You shouldn't be running around with that leg," Logan warned, noting that the teen was taking deep breaths.

"I'm fine," Lance murmured, trying to unnoticeably stabilize his breathing as best as he could.

Before Lance could ask the question, Charles did. "Lance, have you seen Tabitha anywhere?"

Lance shook his head, questions immediately surfacing in his mind- why did they want her?

"Did anything unusual happen between you recently?"

Again, Lance shook his head. Before stopping suddenly. Dead still.

Logan called him on it. "What happened?"

"...nothing," Lance mumbled.

He didn't ask further.  
"What made her blow like that?" Logan turned to Charles, for a second forgetting Lance's presence in face of the important question.

"I don't know, Loga-"

"What happened?" Lance interrupted abruptly. "What happened to Tabby?"

The urgency in his voice could not be masked.

* * *

"It's not fair," he had calmed down now, still leaning against her, her arm around his shoulders. It had been silent for a while now, and his sudden proclamation stirred her back to reality.  
"Why do I always break down in front of you?"

Tense muscles relaxing a little again at the slight tinge of humor in his words, Tabitha just shrugged.  
"I don't know, Quickie."

"Tabby... I... Tabby, do you..."

"It wasn't your fault."

"...You always tell me that."

"It's not."

"You tell Lance that too, don't you?"

"Because it's not."

"...How can you be so sure?"

"...Ask me tomorrow. I'll buy the book of positive, inspirational clichés and answer you with something good."

That actually managed a faint smirk from him.  
"Like we'll need that; we're living with the X-Geeks now."

"...Yeah..."

He didn't notice that her statement lacked its usual lightness.

For a while they didn't say anything, just leaning into each other. Abruptly, Pietro's voice stirred up the air.  
"You never tell me anything."

"Sure I do."

"No, you don't. I always tell you stuff. You never tell me anything."

"Well, you have a dad that wants to take over the world or something. That beats all my stories."

"That's not funny. And so? Who cares about him. I just want you to tell me something. Anything. You never tell us anything."

That was true... she had her reasons.

They knew that her dad was in jail now, and about the whole deal when he tried to steal from Bayville High by using her to break in.  
They knew she had a mom back home... back... home.

Lance had found out more than she wanted him to, but he hadn't pried in or manipulated her to get her to talk.  
They left her alone about it; they had once been in her position.  
She doubted she'd move onto theirs anytime soon, though.  
If ever.  
No, probably not.

It wasn't quite fair, she knew.  
They had all told her about their pasts. Even Lance- though that hadn't come easy, and he hadn't intended to tell her either. Things just happened.  
Now, with Pietro telling her what only Lance had known up till, it was understandable that he wanted to at least get something from her. Something about her.  
"There's nothing to tell."

"Liar."

"Hey, same to you."

"But not to you."

He was right.  
Again.

But she couldn't say anything.

* * *

She had flown off the handle. She didn't do that often. It was Lance that did that- Lance, Fred, and Pietro usually. Tabby and Todd usually calmed them down, though when Pietro was concerned, it sometimes took Fred to hold him back.

"Lance?"  
He turned, realizing only then that his name had been echoed twice now.

Charles continued, finally having gotten his attention. "Did something happen?"

"...no, nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Nothing."

He didn't press on the matter. Logan didn't either.

"Nothing." Lance repeated.  
The lack of reproach on his avoidance of the topic made him just as nervous as direct questioning would've.

"Well... Lance, if there's anything you want to-"

"I- I... It's nothing. I just got fired from all my jobs except one... and... and Tabby told me they had to get rid of what was left of my jeep... so... I got mad. Um, can I leave?"

On the green light, he escaped as fast as he could. He didn't even care if they were suspicious- even he would've been, with that obviously bad, though half true, excuse.  
It didn't matter.

Unfortunately, someone was just around the corner, and Lance barely missed walking into him.

"A-Alvers-"

"Summers?...uh, sorry," he mumbled the apology, stepping aside, avoiding the other brunette's eyes.

"No- I wasn't looking, sorry," his words were just as rushed, and he did not search to make eye contact.

After a second, they both started walking again, past each other without any words.

Normally, even the brief encounter would've been treated with his usual attitude, but Lance didn't want any more delays. Something seemed to have kept Scott from doing something closer to their usual meetings as well.  
Right now, Lance hardly cared what.  
It wasn't important.

Now he knew where to look.

* * *

He didn't know anything. It struck him, just how little he knew about her.  
They knew her life hadn't been on easy street, but the rough history was practically a mandatory requirement for membership in the Brotherhood. In any case, they all had it. Different variations were all.  
They knew not to mention her family when she was serious. No, they knew not to mention her family, period. Unless she skinned the surface of the topic with a joke, it was forbidden territory. They just knew.

She pretended not to be bothered by things. They all did. She pulled it off. Well enough that they didn't know when she was bothered a lot of the time. They rarely knew before the nightmares blitzed after dark.  
"Aren't you ever going to tell us anything?"

"It's not interesting."

He didn't notice that her tone was falling quickly. He always did hate that he never noticed things, but found himself unable to do otherwise. These kinds of things just escaped him. He couldn't help it.

He usually knew better than to keep asking like this though, even when she knew he was in a mood like this.  
But it frustrated him today. More so than usual.  
She knew all about him now; she had always known a little more than Fred and Todd, but now, now she knew everything, just as Lance did. Only, Lance had already told them a lot of his story- intentionally or not, depending on the part. She hadn't said anything.  
It frustrated him, and he didn't know what to do any more.

He knew nothing, and it was unbearable.

He never could stand not knowing.  
He preferred to put it out of his thoughts, locked up in a box somewhere in his mind. There was a lot of scarlet there. He didn't want Tabby's colors to get mixed in too. He wasn't sure the box could contain both of them.  
And even if it could, he couldn't stand locking both of them away, out of his thoughts, out of his mind, out of his heart.  
He knew he couldn't do it anyway, as much he might've tried to once.

* * *

The door closed behind them, surely but not forcefully.

They left behind empty cups, and six empty packets of hot chocolate in the trash bin. Two and four between them, Todd and Fred, respectively. After the second cup, Todd had been more interested in the talk than the sweet drink, while Fred had been satisfied with adding a few comments here and there.

A part of them told them that it was wrong... they shouldn't be having fun talking to the enemy.  
What would Mystique say? What would Mystique do?

But the questions seemed to carry little power over them; she was gone, out of their lives now, and they didn't know when she would return, if ever. In the present, they had been greeted with warm cocoa, and invitations to return whenever they wanted. Truthfully, he seemed like a cool guy.

Truthfully, they wanted to drop by again sometime.

Sometime soon, maybe.

Maybe.

* * *

"Let's talk about something else, Quickie."

She wasn't usually so blunt, at least not in this way, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep herself in check. And she had no intention or desire to snap in front of Pietro, and more importantly, at Pietro.  
Especially not right now.  
"Feeling better?"

"...Tabby, don't you trust us?"

"Feeling better enough to ask me stuff, huh?"

"I'm serious."

"Of course I do, Pietro."

"...All right."  
He finally dropped it, though Tabitha was sure that this would bother him for the entire day now.

She didn't want him to be bothered by her, but more so, she didn't want to talk about this.  
It bothered her that she bothered him.  
A lot.

She never much liked herself to begin with, but it didn't help when she bothered the few people she did like.

* * *

Maybe.

Only maybe.

Already maybe.

It wasn't so much that he had been cold, or particularly thirsty or hungry. The fact that there was food around simply made things more Fred's element.  
He had been comfortable enough to stay there while Todd talked more animatedly with the X-Man... Beast... Hank.  
Which one, Fred wasn't sure yet.

He was sure however, that Todd hadn't minded the time with the guy very much. Todd had always been more interested in things like biology than he had been.  
Fred, he was more interested in the 'culinary arts'... personally, he just thought of it as food.  
It made life easier.

And why not take the easier path?

* * *

"He bothers me."

He didn't notice the slight way in which she flinched but his thoughts had already drifted back to the first reason for their current situation, and he was immersed.

"...Suck it up, Quickie, we're gonna be here a while."

"I know. Unfortunately."

"It could be worse."

Her indifference, he did notice.  
It confused him a little. She didn't act this way with them, at least not as much. And rarely when it was just the two of them talking like this... when he **needed** to talk to her, if just to rant sometimes.  
"Worse than living with the X-Geeks?"

"...We could be living in the same room as them."

"...Okay, you got me. This is better than being forced into the same room as Daniels every hour."

"Pietro, you're going to have to do something."

Her directness caught him off guard.

"What?"

"You're going to have to do something. About this. All of this."

She just kept confusing him today.

"...I know..."

"What're you going to do? You need to do something, Pietro."

"I know."

"Pietro..."

* * *

If there was one consistency with the Brotherhood, it was that they usually dealt with everything the same way- anger.

And she, like they did, had already done that. So the only thing left to do was to get rid of the excess energy. And unless he was completely off target, and Lance weighed the risk lower than the consequences of being even later, the smallest gym was deserted most of the day. Privacy was necessary when dealing with anger.

Unless that is, one just planned to fire back at the world.

* * *

"I know Tabby, I know! You think I want it this way! I don't, damn it!"

He hadn't meant to shout. At least, not at her.  
But it wasn't the first time he had, when he hadn't meant to.  
Most of the time, he didn't mean to.  
She understood.  
They all did.  
Between themselves, a lot more went understood than was said.  
They knew he didn't mean it.

"Well then don't! Don't leave it that way!"

Her outburst shocked him. She wasn't the one blowing up at him, not like this. When they were fighting, sure, but not when it was serious. She was the one that let him rant on and on, until he was tired of anger and things fell back to normal.  
She had never **fully** broken down before, and that was a record only one other Brotherhood member held, he being Lance.  
But she was the only one that had **never** broken down, period.

Breaking down was a lot similar to anger, because rants usually accompanied, or led to it, though fury could always stand by itself.  
Tabitha wasn't the one that ranted. He was.  
She wasn't supposed to snap back.  
She was supposed to just wait for him to let it out...

Shock turned to confusion, and suddenly he was angry again.

"Well what do you want me to do about it!"

"I don't know! What're you asking me for!"

"Because I don't know! I never know! You're supposed to know!"

"No, Lance is supposed to know! I'm not Lance. And you know what, Lance can't solve everything either! It's not fair for us to make him!"

"Well then what am I supposed to do!"

"I don't know! If you don't like it this way, change it! Stop asking me about it and do something to change it!"

"I can't change it! What do you want me to do about it! I can't change it, I can't!"

"Well if you did something instead of yelling at me about it, maybe you could! Maybe if you did something, Pietro, you could!"

"**I can't**!"

"**NO**!"

That one shout threw ice water on Pietro.

"No," she was no longer shouting, but the anger remained.  
"No, that's the difference between you and me, Pietro."

Anger at this.

Anger at him.

Anger at everything.

"You can change it, you're just too scared to try. You can. I can't."

* * *

He couldn't find the damn gym.

He had mistaken another one for his destination, and had even ended up walking into a closet.

Lance was lost.

* * *

"...Wh-why! Why are you telling me this, Tabby! ...You...**You're supposed to be on my side**!"

"I **AM** on your side, Pietro! I'm telling you this **BECAUSE** **I AM on your side**!"

"No you're not! You're acting like... like everyone else! **You're supposed to be different**! You guys are my friends! You're supposed to be on **MY** side, Tabby!"

"**I am**,** Pietro**! I'm tired of listening to you this way. I'm tired of seeing you this way. I'm tired, Pietro! I'm tired, and I can't take it anymore."

* * *

"...Freddy? I think we're lost, yo."

"Um, maybe it's this way," the larger teen opened a door to their right, only to be greeted with the sight of shelves of stacks of neatly folded towels. "Or not."

"Let's try this door," Todd suggested, walking over to a door a few feet down the hall, on their left. He swung it open.

And was immediately met with the surprised stares of a room full of New Recruits.

* * *

"...I'm sorry."

He didn't reply. She put a hand on his shoulder, but he only jerked away.

"Pietro... I'm sorry."

He didn't reply. His shoulders were trembling slightly.

"Pietro..."

"Do you hate me too?"

The words were quiet. And suddenly, Tabitha realized that he was dead serious.  
And it scared her. It scared her that he could ask something like that, to her.  
To **her**.  
It scared her.

"I could never hate you, Pietro."

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then he answered with a question.

"Are you sure?"

"More than anything else."

"...You can hate though, can't you? You do."

"...I don't know, Pietro."

"Do you hate the X-Men?"

"Hate? No."

"Not even Rogue?"

"No... not even Rogue."

"Then why do you act like it."

There was a pause, and Tabitha turned away.  
"You've never seen me hate anyone, Pietro."

"...your father?"

Her eyes widened.

"...Do you hate your father?"

Blue eyes turned on blue.

She stared at him, for the first time without adequate defense.

For the first time vulnerable.

* * *

It scared her.

It scared her because she didn't know.

* * *

She looked away first. His gaze didn't linger on her either, falling down to the floor.

"I don't love him."

"That wasn't the question." He spoke. Disillusioned. Quiet.

"...I know."

* * *

And she didn't know if she wanted to.

* * *

"Uh... wrong hall yo."

"We'll just be leaving now-"

"Wait, wait!"

They stopped at the urgent call. It was a reflex. The stunned expressions however, weren't.

"Yeah, we need you guys to settle something for us," Roberto agreed after Bobby.

Fred looked at Todd. Todd looked at Fred.  
At last, they turned back towards the expectant teens around the room.  
"Uh...all right."

Grins met their answer, and Sam was quick to explain the dilemma.  
"Okay, who's cooler- Batman or Superman?" Or rather, introduce the subject question.  
He was quick to add his thoughts as well. "Superman, don't you think?"

"No! Batman, right?" The Brazilian of the room suggested with the underlying confidence of certainty.

"No way! Superman!" The youngest...s, of the room quipped, in multiple volumes.

"Batman!" Rahne argued, shooting a glare at the offending trio of Jamies for their loudness.

"Definitely Superman!" Bobby cut in again.

"They do this a lot. We don't really pay much attention to it," Ray commented from the side, noticing the confused expressions of Todd and Fred.

"Or we join in," Jubilee added. "Definitely Batman."

Theresident princess followed the Asian girl, "No, it's Superman."

"Batman," Ray intercepted casually.

The two Brotherhood members stared at the eight.  
"Um..."

* * *

"...I hate mine."

"Pietro..."

"I do, you know."

"...Pietro..."

"Don't you believe me? Don't you believe me, Tabby?"

"...I believe you."

He didn't say anything for a while, staring at the floor. Lacking the energy to be mad. Lacking the energy to be sad. Just staring.  
She moved closer again, drawing an arm around him.

The silence was longer than usual.

He spoke once more, and it seemed as if lifetimes had passed.  
Yet, at the same time, it seemed like time had stopped completely.  
They had lost track of the seconds long ago, and minutes were too in oblivion.  
Hours had yet to be discovered.  
Days held no meaning.  
Everything beyond that was empty space.

"...how come you always manage to appear like this."

"Just luck, I guess."

"Mine or yours?"  
His tone was lighter, and they felt the clock begin to tick again.

"Definitely yours, Quickie. I don't have any luck to speak of that's even remotely positive."

It was ticking now, the eternal ticking announcing its presence to be forever.

"But I have bad luck too."

Forever was irrelevant.

"Well, maybe our collective bad luck just negates the badness occasionally."

Forever was temporary.

"That makes no sense."

"I know."

"Tabby... the door's not locked."

"I'll go lock it."

"No... let's go. This room's too cold."

"We're sitting in front of the heater, Quickie."

"Still."

* * *

"Um... I'm going to say, Batman," Fred finally answered the awaiting eight, a little unnerved by the intense anticipation they had been getting, but mostly because it was so unexpected.

"Me too yo," Todd added quickly.

"Aw man!" The collective groan of Amara, Sam, Bobby, and the Jamies echoed in the room.

"That's been going on for about ten minutes," Ray informed the two Brotherhood boys.

"Eleven minutes and forty-five seconds to be exact," a Jamie corrected from the side before turning his attention on Sam, Bobby and the other two Jamies as they engaged in a heated discussion about whose turn it was to refill the popcorn bowl.

"Sometimes one of the Jamies keeps track," Jubilee supplied. "We have a record of seventeen minutes and fifty-six seconds for the longest one without a pause."

"We could beat that," Todd mused to Fred. "Unless slime, flying food, or Tabby's bombs count as pauses."

"It was about whether or not chocolate is candy or a separate category of foods," Roberto added.

"Definitely separate," Fred supplied.

"And how often do you do this?" Todd asked, cocking his head.

"We do this every day!" Rahne grinned. "Usually more than once."

"Which is really far too often," Amara commented.

* * *

He was almost positive this was the right way... then again he had been the last time he opened the door to the closet as well.  
Just as he reached for the nearby door, it opened.

"I think the heater melted my gel or something..."

"Me too- check my hair for me-" she stopped short, seeing him.

Pietro didn't notice that she didn't continue the talk, or even greet him. "Lance? What are you doing here?"

"Just... looking for you guys."

"Oh. Well, we'd better find Toad and Blob- I left them a while ago but they probably headed back to the rooms anyhow."

"Yeah, probably- Tabby, can I talk to you?"

"...all right."

"Pietro, we'll catch up with you; look around just in case they're not back there- I almost got lost around here, and this isn't even my first time here."

"Okay... something up?"

"No; you're faster than us, so it'll be easier if you go ahead first."

"Oh, all right. Don't be too slow."  
There were traces of concern left in the speedster's eyes, but they quickly faded away and he headed off.

The moment he was out of earshot, Lance turned to Tabitha.  
"Tabby-"

"What?"  
She wasn't looking at him, but her voice was back to the usual.

"Tabby, I'm sorry about just shouting before; let me explain, there's more to it than just-"

"Shouldn't I be the one that's sorry," she was quiet. "After all... you are the one that's..."

"No! I'm not. At least, not for sure... McCoy says it's not likely..."

"Lance..." she finally looked at him. "I don't want you to die."

He hugged her first.

"I won't."

She spoke eternities later.

"...We can't live this way, Lance... we can't..."

And he could only hold her.

"...Things can change... we can change."

As they could only hope.

* * *

But they could hope together.

* * *

Everything is Relative  
By Silverwolf & Life-of-L.A. 

-To be continued-


End file.
